The Eevee Prince
by Bboyz
Summary: Gary was turned into an Eevee and landed into the hands of Prince Ash. Chapter 11 is up entitled 'Departures'. Who's leaving?
1. Prince Eevee

Bboyz:  
Hey everyone… Here's a pokemon fic for ya. I haven't typed much fan fics in a while so I'm a tad bit rusty here and there, especially on my vocabularies. So I'd appreciate some reviews later on…

**I do not own Pokemon. **That's an easy enough phrase to comprehend eh? So, let's get on with the show!

**An Eevee Prince**

* * *

-- Kingdom of Viridian, Kanto Region --

Viridian was a peaceful kingdom and harmony was everywhere… That's how every fairytale would start now, doesn't it? Well, yeah… It was fairly boring if I might add but hey, all living creatures, both humans and pokemon lived together under the ruling of the majestic and royal family of Oak. The throne was just passed down from a certain Samuel Oak, a brown haired king reaching his 60's to his son and daughter in law. And what does an old retired king do for a living? Well, this old king had a sharp mind and joined the elders as a sage, protecting the balance of the Kingdom of Viridian and foresees its future.

The current king and queen had two darling children, a daughter and a son but hey, let's not brag about them all since the story will be focused mostly on the handsome little prince named Gary. Well now, Gary was really cute even at the age of eleven. He had auburn brown hair that sparkled golden in the sun and mystical green eyes. This little bundle of joy was a gift from the heavens but came with a cost. The elders, including his own granddad Samuel Oak had foretold that this child would face many troubles, pain, suffering and agony in his future. However, everything is a blur to them as they sense a mystical force has blinded them from seeing his future clearly. That's where I come in. And who am I? That's a secret I'll never tell… hahaha, just kidding… Everything will unfold sooner or later. So, back to the story…

The royal family of oak had an old advisor, a wizard by the name of Giovanni. Everyone knew that Giovanni had awesome power. He was once said to have summoned rocks, thunder and so on from the heavens above to fight off raging charizards that threatens his life. Why was his life threatened? Well… let's just say pokemons sense danger and are very protective of the earth's peace and harmony. With great power, greed started o blossom in his heart. Everyone knew he wanted more power; the power to rule but there was only man that was in his way; Samuel Oak, the one that took him in and gave him high status in the Kingdom of Viridian. Sages have the power that could neutralize the doings of wizards but they need to be highly skilled to do so and as for now, only Samuel Oak has reached that very status. His son was more of a sword wielder than a caster who married a healer; the harmonious beings that acts in the name of the powers above.

Well, that was some introduction to the Kingdom of Viridian… Again, let's begin the fairytale that I promise won't have any damsels in distress, princesses or any sorts of maiden needing rescuing. It's about… Well, two princes. What will happen to them only time will tell.

One very fine day… one of those happy care free days that only existed in fairytales, Prince Gary was out playing with the king out in their royal garden while his sister and the queen was sitting around looking at the bird pokemons that nested in their garden's trees.

"Hey dad… Why don't we climb out of the castle's boundaries and explore the outside once in a while? Just us, with no guards… It's kindda boring with them around…" Gary suggested. This suggestion was also heard by his mother and sister.

"Well Gary…" his dad didn't think it should be disapproved. He just wanted to see what his wife had thought. He saw that his daughter too was thrilled with the suggestion that her brother came up with. He looked at his wife who looked a little disapprovingly at first. Gary and his sister went up to their mother and knelt on their knees.

"Owh please mum… please oh please can we go… just this once… or maybe more than once after this…" Gary and his sister begged. His mum, like all mothers have a soft spot towards their children's pleas. She hesitantly nodded giving her approval. Gary and his sister jumped for joy.

-- Viridian Forest Kingdom of Viridian --

"Wow… it feels so different without those guards around!" Gary shouted as he ran up the path and spun around taking in the feel of the forest.

"My oh my how your mood seems so different without the guards. You know, you can be such a snob sometimes… I heard numerous stories about you from…" his sister trailed off not wanting to reveal much of her sources of gossip.

"Spill it sis, I know you've always been hanging around your lil' boyfriend, that swordsman… what was his name? Owh yeah… Trac…" Gary couldn't continue as his sister held his mouth shut.

"Don't worry kids, I know about Tracy Sketchit. He's quite a gentleman I must say…" his mother slipped in. Gary chuckled as his sister gave a glare towards their mother while their father just looked on in amazement at how his family could be so… so hectic and hilarious with their majestic roles discarded.

-- Top Towers, Viridian Castle --

Samuel Oak was standing among the other elders around a levitated sphere that they conjured up with their magical powers. Suddenly, one of the elders fainted. A few others went to help them as the rest kept the sphere held in place. With a signal from Oak, they all restrained their magical outflow and the sphere they encircled disappeared.

Oak approached the elder that fainted, knelt down beside him and chanted a few spells as he held the latter's forehead. The elder sprung back to life with a worried look.

"Sam… it's approaching. The time is so close to happening. You need to act fast and save tat little prince. Someone else also knows something of the prince's future… With his pain, agony and sorrow, something else will also blossom in his life, someday making him…"

"Enough said… We are not sure of the future until the present is safe. Let's act. I think I have a feeling of who is behind all this…" Oak said and he and a few other elders left the enormous room form atop their tower.

-- Cave of Relics, Viridian Forest --

With an eager prince leading their way, the Oaks were led to a small cave. What was inside astonished them all. The walls had glowing paintings on them that looked so magical. No, it wasn't painting… It was writing, in some code-like language they have never seen before.

"Dear… have you ever seen this cave before in your outings with the maids?" the kings asked. The queen shook her head. The king looked in utter confusion. "Neither have I"

"It looks like we've uncovered something new today! I'm glad I suggested coming here… Let's name this cave… 'Cave Gary'. Sounds original don't you think", Gary said. The other three Oaks giggled at the young prince's thoughts.

"I'm sorry dear prince but we can't do something like that…" a voice came from an approaching dark figure behind Gary. Gary yelped and retreated behind his dad. His sister did the same to his mum. The king and queen stood their grounds, armed and ready to protect their young ones.

"Wow… we don't have to resort to violence now…" The figure was then hit by lights to reveal himself as Giovanni, their advisor. The king and queen had relieved looks on their faces. Giovanni smiled. For what it was worth, let me tell you that Gary was not fond of Giovanni from the very beginning so he still held his grounds behind his dad.

"Now, now lil' Gary… I won't hurt you… We're like… Family… Anyway, like I said earlier on, this cave cannot be named after you my dear prince".

"And why is that Giovanni?" asked the queen.

"It already has a name… It's the Cave of Relics"

"But isn't that only a myth? How come we've never seen this place before?" asked the king

"Well your majesty, this here cave has always been here… It just needed to be revealed and no, it is not a myth, it is very true indeed. You are standing in it right now"

"Cave of Relics? Never heard of it…" came a questioning look from the princess.

"Well my dear, it is said that there are secrets in this cave that goes beyond our imagination. It possesses the ability to grant the ones that understand it unlimited power… By the way, why are you here dear Giovanni?" the queen asked.

"My, my… Why else should I come here? It's been my life long quest in researching and looking for this cave… For that unlimited power"

"You believe in that crap?" asked the king. Gary snorted at how his dad is using rude words towards their advisor. Giovanni smirked.

"Well now your majesty, wouldn't you?"

"No…" At this point, the king had his hand on his sword, ready to wield it.

"Well, it's as real as THIS!" Giovanni sent a jolt of green light towards the king who wasn't quick enough to wield his sword out. However, the green jolt of light bounced off its target and hit the walls.

"What are you trying to do GIOVANNI!" the queen demanded an answer, her arms glowing from the shield she just conjured to protect her husband and son.

"That was quick thinking my dear queen… Well… You see, upon finding this cave, I've also found out about the prophesy that has been bestowed when you had that son of yours… How he'd suffer grief and agony, how that will lead to war and suffering to all across the land… And well, with you out of the picture and me having the secrets from the relics, well… you can put two and two together can't you?"

"Tell me… how long have you been plotting against us?" asked the king.

"Since the day your dad took me in… It was all part of my plan really. That old man didn't know what's coming to him. But he was a superior, his powers amaze me… I couldn't have overthrown him when he was ruling could I?"

"You are so sick!" Gary shouted from behind his dad. Giovanni gave a more evil smirk.

"And as for you young prince… you snotty little brat that has hated me since forever… take this!" Giovanni shot a few beams of spells towards Gary who only knew to shield himself with his bare hands. He was waiting for a hit when he felt nothing. He opened his eyes and saw his dad taking the hit. He ran up to the side of his dad while his mum and sister tried to heal the wounded king.

"Heal!" shouted the two females, a priestess and an acolyte at work. Giovanni just laughed. Gary cried. He hasn't been taught anything yet… He was helpless; he only had the ability to watch his dad suffer the attack.

"You two stay here… try healing you dad…"

"But mum…"

"I'm your last line of defense here… You'll just have to have faith in me…"

"But it's already too late for him…" Gary knew what his sister was talking about. He saw his dad lay motionless on his laps. His warm tears never stopped from pouring down his cheeks. He saw his mum was holding back tears but held strong to give her children courage.

"Alright, just back me up then…" Gary's sister clasped her hands together and began chanting spells, making white light appear around their mum. The queen then pointed her palms towards Giovanni.

"You know you don't have a chance…"

"It'll at least give us time…"

"Says you… Fire Wall! Napalm Beat!"

"Holy Light!" The queen's attack was countered by the fire wall that the wizard conjured while his napalm beat attack hit her straight in the chest, making her fly back a few meters crashing into her dead husband and their two children.

"Heal!" Gary saw his sister was trying to help their mum. He saw his mum looked him in the eyes.

"Gary, whatever you do… do not let pain and suffering envelope you… I know you are capable of being optimistic and discarding all the negatives out…" The queen then stood up again and started to aim for the wizard once more.

"But mum… death isn't something that can be ignored just like that… It's horrible… it hurts…"

"Try to heal your wounds with love Gary…"

"Owh shut up! Jupitel Thunder!" Giovanni shouted. Bolts of lightning came out of clouds that materialized above them.

"Angelus!" the queen shouted as holograms of angels came out, circled them and provided them a shield from the wizard's monstrous attacks. However, the queen had been weakened and the shield she conjured up slowly disintegrated. The attack hit her hard as she fell to the ground still trying to defend her offspring. Blood gushed everywhere out of her body. Gary looked in horror. His sister hugged him for what he thought she needed support that he could not give… but oh, was he wrong.

"Fire Ball!" The fire struck behind Gary's sister as she wailed in pain whilst holding him in her embrace. Tears poured down her cheeks as she saved a few last breath to calm the prince down.

"Gary… be brave. I know you are. Run away from here after I let you go. Don't turn back… ok? We all love you so much Gary and we are so sorry we failed in protecting you and can't go on living with you. Be a good boy now…" With those last words, the princess stood up and shot a powerful holy light towards Giovanni which he dodged easily…

"You're no match for a full grown wizard. Napalm Beat!" Then, Gary's world seem to disappear in front of him as he saw all his family members lying motionless in front of him, blood trickling out of them.

"Now my dear boy… IT's time for you to suffer… What you need is a few ancient spells to torture you… That'll make this prophesy come true much quicker and I will reign over the entire world!" Yellow beams trickled out of Giovanni's right hand and it caught Gary who tried to flee from the cave. The beams held him up against a wall. "So now boy, you're all alone with me, the on you hated so much!"

-- Somewhere Unknown --

"So now boy, you're all alone with me, the on you hated so much!"

"You know… I could have just swept in and save him from that guy" a white hooded figure spoke to a pokemon that was sitting on a chair, watching Giovanni and Gary. The pokemon shook its head disapprovingly. The hooded figure sighed.

_**"Ray… you know we are not to mess with these things. You have your assignments. That's all you're supposed to do. Do not interfere with the writing of time" **_

"But… but… look at him… He's helpless… He's too young to be suffering like that…" the figure named Ray argued. By the way… This is me, Ray Chong… The narrator that was at the beginning of the story…

_**"Stop doing the narration again… You know Gary has to go through all that… you are only assigned to help him after all this… You're not even supposed to be here to watch all this. You're supposed to teleport to mew already!"**_

"But celebi, you know how mew is… it's too… well… playful… childish… young… etc. You get the picture… I'm just buying time to have less time over at its place"

_**"For someone you are describing very immature, she runs that dimension quite well…"**_

"All right… all right… I get it… I'll go…"

**_"And remember Ray… No attachments, no regrets…"_ **Ray was already gone. Celebi shook its head.** _"That boy is going to cause trouble again…"_**

-- Somewhere Hidden --

"Hey mew… anything new?"

_**"You are late Ray… I've been expecting you. I thought you were lost in the interdimensional pool or something!"**_

"Don't worry about me lil' kitty, I'm fine. You know I've done it before… Well, I'm ready for duty. Have you contacted my pokemons…" Ray then saw his friends were already waiting behind him.

"Aww… you guys have grown quite a lot since I last saw you… Eevee, you lil' thing… Jolteon, Vaporeon, Flareon, Espeon, Umbreon, Glaceon, Leafeon… You guys ready?" The eight pokemons nodded in unison. "Well then… you know what to do Espeon"

Espeon's eyes glowed purple and purple light surrounded all the pokemon and Ray. They floated out of the rock formation towards Viridian.

"Hey guys… don't worry about me much… go back to where Giovanni was starting to torture Gary" Ray reminded. The pokemons sighed.

-- Cave of Relics, Viridian Forest --

"How do you like that?" Giovanni whipped Gary numerous times with a magical whip he conjured out of his left hand. Gary was bleeding badly. He was loosing a lot of blood. He's closing to loose his conscious, or a matter of fact, his life…

"Giovanni, I knew that it had to be you… Now one else would be selfish enough to search for some myth and believed in its powers…

"Samuel Oak… my savior… you know… I knew you never trusted me from the beginning but you took me in… Why?"

"It was just something I had to do. It was fated. This was all fated. I had no choice but not to interfere…"

"That's good… Now watch as your grandson dies in my hands after he was put through all those suffering losing his loved ones! Hahahaha!" Oak looked down at the motionless figure of his son, his daughter-in-law and his granddaughter. His rage grew.

"Let him go! We've foreseen things up to here; the rest is up to me to write what will become history!" Oak shot a few beams which Giovanni was able to dodge and shield from. Giovanni countered with a few of his own spells.

"Cancelation!" Oak shouted as the beams that were headed towards him disintegrated. Giovanni smirked.

"Well then, try to cancel this!" Giovanni struck Gary with a spell Oak had never seen before. It was ones he had only read about. It was one of those ancient spells; ones that had very long term effects on its victims. "Well Oak… motionless are we now? Let me tell you… I've tortured him enough. I'm just trying to put him out of his agony once and for all… but I just had to make it slow to make you suffer! Hahahaha"

Oak closed his eyes. His tears rolled down his cheek Gary was shouting in pain. His shouts grew weaker and weaker by the second.

Out in the forest, a few figures were watching them closely.

"That old guy needs to do something quick, or Gary's a goner!"

_**"Ray… do not interfere!"**_ Ray sighed…

Oak focused all his power into his hands. This was the last spell that he'd thought he'd ever use… and in fact, he had never used it before… He only read about it but time is against him and it was his last chance to save his remaining grandchild. "Inchantus Rewritus!"

Ray looked amazed. "That's one hell of a spell… but is it that useful now… let's see…"

White beams shot out of Oak's hands and enveloped around the beams that was coming out of Giovanni's. Gary's shout then grew louder, which was a good sign, seeing that life is returning into him. But something else was happening… Gary was shrinking.

"Interesting…" Ray muttered. The pokemons beside him watched in amazement.

Giovanni couldn't do anything. His hands were immobile until the spell finishes. Gary's hair grew shorter. His nose more pointed. He's skin started to grow hair and he was growing a tail. He was all brown and still shrinking.

"Hurm… he's turning into a pokemon… That's something new. Didn't have that in my job description…" Ray added. The pokemons glared at him. He chuckled at his optimism at times like this.

Both yellow beams and white beams then exploded, throwing the two old man flying backwards. As the smoke cleared, all were curious as to what had happened to Gary. Giovanni, Oak and even Ray and the pokemons tried to peek closer.

There, lying in the heaps of what the prince was wearing was a weakened Eevee. It's breathing was heavy and its eyes were still closed. Giovanni laughed at the sight and aimed another beam of spell towards the critter. Oak countered it with his own bag of tricks. The wizard and sage battled it out with beams flying towards each other every split second.

"Aww… I just have to do it… You guys are in this with me right?" Ray asked the pokemons. They nodded and smiled at their friend and knew his heart was at the right place even if it was messing with what was meant to be. "Espeon… channel my telepathy towards Oak" Espeon glowed purple while Ray closed his eyes.

_**'Hey gramps, I'm here to help'**_

_**'Who are you?'**_

_**'Just a friendly neighbour… Gary needs to get away from this place. Let me take him away…'**_

_**'I have no choice but to trust you… Take him somewhere far far away. He needs to get away from all this and hopefully just survive until the spell wears off…'**_

_**'You know gramps; I'll have to erase your memory about our little conversation and what happened to Gary from your brain'**_

_**'Why is that?'**_

_**'He is the child of prophesy. He'll need to carry out his duty…'**_

_**'Alright, just make sure he'll be safe…'**_

_**'Safer than being with you, that's for sure. That maniac's gonna hunt him down!'**_

_**'I know. Thank you stranger'**_

_**'You're welcome… That was easy…'**_

_**'What was?'**_

_**'Damn… this telepathy thing is still… Oh whatever. Bye gramps…'**_

"Now, jolteon, you're the fastest. Go fetch that little Eevee over there and we are out of here!" Ray instructed. Jolteon nodded and jolted into the cave and back out. "That was quick… Espeon, do your thing" Then they all floated into the sky.

"Sorry gramps, but I just have to do this…" Ray's hand glowed green alongside Samuel Oak's head. Ray then left them in the raging battle.

-- Above some weird forest in Kanto --

_**"Ray… Did you have to interfere when I deliberately told you not to do so?"** _

"But celebi…"

_**"No buts! Leave him where you are!"**_

"In mid air? Are you crazy? And I thought only Entei needed some fresh air" Ray then heard a loud roar from afar. He sighed. How does these legendary pokemons hear him so well… "Alright, I'll let it go…"

_**"Not quick enough" **_A bolt of lighting struck Ray's backside as he felt gravity full him down. Damn those pokemon… Another bolt struck him for that comment.

"I get it, I get it…" Ray sighed. He knew the other interdimensional beings didn't have a hard time as he had with Celebi always watching his back. Maybe it's because he always had to interfere. But that was him…

Ray tried to land as softly as possible trying not to hurt Gary which he held closely in his embrace. He sympathise the lump of fur that was in his hand. He petted in and placed it on the ground. He held out his hand towards Gary and it glowed green.

"Heal!" Ray muttered. Gary the Eevee than looked all in shape so Ray decided it was time he took off. The pokemons landed right before he departed.

"Hey guys… you know what to do… Just keep and eye out for him. He just transformed. He'll be confused. When he gets attacked, if you think he won't be able to handle it then appear out of nowhere and help him out… Don't do too much though or the one watching us might zap you" The pokemons giggled.

"Espeon, don't forget to lead him to our rendezvous place ok? Try not to make it obvious that you helped him" Espeon nodded and purred. "Jolteon, you're the fastest. Whatever happens, you know where to contact me right? Espeon may be psychic but hey, its powers are still limited!" Ray joked. Jolteon giggled while Espeon snorted.

"Flareon, keep him warm at nights. Leafeon, make sure he's comfortable. Vapoureon, help him out if he comes to your domain; a.k.a watered area. Glaceon… hurm… you take care of the rest with Umbreon ok?" All the pokemon nodded.

"Ee.. Eevee!"

"Don't worry lil' kiddo, you're coming with me…"

* * *

Bboyz:  
That's all for now folks… confused? I'll bet you are… hehehe… Wait for the next instalment! I think I'll be calling it **'A Prince's Desire'.**

Ray:  
Wee… I'm in another story! Well, anyway, where am I headed to? Where will Espeon lead Gary? How will Gary take it being a pokemon? What is in store for him along the way? Why does Celebi zap me so much! Auch! Not another one! Find out in the next instalment of **'An Eevee Prince'**

Bboyz:  
Owh yeah, don't forget to review! Your comments are really much appreciated.


	2. A Prince's Desire

Bboyz:  
Wow… thanx for the reviews guys! I'm loved!! Hehehe (bboyz runs around the room then hugs Eevee)

Ray:  
Hey hey hey… let go off Eevee, you're suffocating it! (goes and snatches Eevee away from bboyz) That's what you get when writers are high on sugar… or caffeine… sigh… Anyway, who's doing the disclaimer?

Espeon:  
_**Bboyz does not own pokemon, even though he wishes he does… He also does not own any of its character etc. He only owns his original character (however original that may be… P) Ray! Hahaha…**_

Ray:  
I'm owned?!

Bboyz:  
I caught Ray (shows a peace sign with his fingers and sticks out his tongue)

* * *

-- Palace Entrance, Kingdom of Pallet --

"Who goes there?!" asked a very scary looking palace guard with his Growlithe by his side. Ray flinched as Growlithe barked at him and his Eevee. He held Eevee tight in his arms.

'Hey Mew… anytime soon would be good' Ray thought as an image of a chuckling pink feline floating in the air runs into his mind. He sighed.

"It's ok guards… Let him in… He's a newbie acolyte here to train". Ray looked up at a figure on top of the palace gate where a few archers were ready with bows and arrows. The man was dressed in a white robe with red at the wrist and the chest upwards. He looked at Ray and smiled. His hair was also red.

'You know a high priest, MEW? And you've assigned me to become an acolyte? I'm more into adventures…' Ray thought and hoped that Mew would respond.

'_**Hey… I'm legendary… I have my influences! And as for the job specification and acolyte will suit you good with your healing powers… You already know how to combat! Acolytes also remain in the palace a lot'**_

'Great… and you mean to tell me that I'll be stuck in here till my job is done?'

'_**Yap, afraid so my friend. Well, I've got to go… just think of my if you need anything'**_

Ray smiled at the guard and growlithe who still observed him suspiciously. Who wouldn't if a stranger dressed in a white robe appeared demanding entrance? Ray walked into the palace compound and looked for the high priest that had saved his butt. He then noticed a few eyes observing him from a window.

-- One of the rooms of the Palace of Pallet --

"You know… he looks… cool…" said a figure with black messy hair.

"Owh no you don't! don't go crushing on another guy!" a figure with orange hair replied.

"Yeah… what about Richie and Snap?" a figure with spiky brown hair added.

"Honestly, do you two think that I'm only capable of falling heads over heels with a cute guy that walks into our premise?" the first figure asked. The other two nodded. The first figure sighed.

"But you know, that guy looks so cute now with that Eevee… forget that I said he was cool!"

-- Eastern Tower, Palace of Pallet --

The red haired high priest observed Ray. Ray felt quite embarrassed. Eevee looked up and Ray and licked his cheeks to calm him down.

"Thank mate" Ray said as he scratched under Eevee's neck. The brown pokemon purred like a Persian. The high priest smiled.

"Well, you seem to have a way with pokemons. No wonder Mew thought you'd be great with being an acolyte. By the way, my name is Lance. Formally, in front of everyone, call me Sir but hey, just call me by my first name any other time. I hate formalities!" Lance said as he sat down on his chair and put his legs on top of his table.

Ray looked dumb struck. 'Aren't priests supposed to be… hurm… let's say… a little well-mannered?' he thought.

'_**Don't worry Ray… He's outgoing!"**_

"I'm outgoing? What was that all about?" Lance asked. Ray looked surprised. Lance shrugged. "How else do you think you gained entrance into the palace? Mew contacted me before and briefed me on a few things"

"You mean you actually know that pink fluff ball?" Ray asked. He knew Mew didn't like to be called that but hey, he wasn't told of anything that he was supposed to be told about this place. With frustration, I let Eevee down since I'm quite destructive when I'm mad.

"Hey, don't blow your ponitas! Well… Let me give you the lowdown… Mew told me that you're here on a mission, that you should be blended in with the rest of the people here at the palace. So, that's not too hard and can be considered done already", explained Lance. Ray raised an eyebrow giving him one of those 'how the heck will that happen?' looks.

"Oh, don't push yourself so much. Everyone's friendly here in the palace except maybe for those guards. They used to give me the creeps. And anyway, with your personality; which I am told was quite charming and friendly, you'll fit in. Plus they love people that can bond with pokemons well, which is another one of your specialties".

'Well… he got me' Ray thought.

"And so, you also need to be close to the prince right? Well, he has this band of friends around him, which none of them is an acolyte. I have my ways of getting you in, so don't worry… And you should know something about the prince too…" Lance paused but then shook his head. He looked at Ray and then smirked;"Actually, I'll let you find that out on your own". Ray could swear he heard a certain pink fluff chuckling at that comment. Ray rolled his eyes…

'This is gonna be one heck of a mission…'

-- The Prince's Room, Palace of Pallet --

The prince looked in the mirror. He loved his messy hair; it was one of his trademarks so he made sure he rarely combs them. He adjusted his silver crown and straitens out his shirt and vest. He then turned around to get approvals from his friend.

"Ash, you look like you always do…" said an orange haired girl Ash sighed. She never really had much enthusiasm with helping him out with his looks.

"Say misty, where's Brock?" Ash asked. Misty shrugged. "But he's supposed to be here by now, with Snap and Richie. The high priest wanted us to meet his new student! That cute guy we saw…"

The door slams open. "Sorry we're late Ash!" Brock came in, rattling his swordsman suit. Behind him came two other figures; one with golden blond hair and the other with red hair.

"Sorry is the only thing you could master? You should be ashamed of yourself Brock!" Ash pouted as he crossed his arms in front of his chest. Misty sweat dropped and sighed.

'He's doing that thing again… And then Brock's gonna say something really stupid and I'll have to do damage control… This routine is getting tiring…' Misty thought.

"What do you expect? Richie in his birthday suit?" Brock teased. Ash turned beet red at the comment. Richie sighed and slapped Brock behind the head while Snap giggled. Misty then gives Brock one of her punches and dragged him out of the room closely followed by Snap.

"Well, we better go Ash. The high Priest is expecting us…" Richie said. Ash was still beet red.

"Richie… I'm sorry he said that…" Ash blurted out. Richie laughed.

"It's ok Ash… It's just a comment… Hahaha… Do you really want me in my birthday suit?" Richie joked as he put his arms around Ash back and walked out of the room with him.

'Oh I wish…' Ash thought and he was growing purple. Richie laughed at the colour change Ash's face was experiencing.

"You must really do eh…" he laughed.

"Not funny…" Ash replied and looked the other way. Richie thought that his jokes had gone too far and pulled Ash's face around by his chin and they accidentally looked into each others eyes. Richie stumbled backward, awkward with the situation.

"Ash… you know it'll never work… And I'm not… We've talked about this before…" Richie said and sighed. Ash was cute but he wasn't really into guys. It was… well, unnatural.

"I know…"

"But hey, don't worry… I love having a fan! One of these days, you might actually get to see me in my birthday suit!" Richie joked to ease the tension. Ash smacked him on his back and they walked on towards Lance's office.

-- Eastern Tower, Palace of Pallet --

Upon entering, Ash and Richie halted when they saw that all the others have been waiting for them and also had annoyed faces except for Lance and Ray who where talking to each other.

"You two didn't lose your way did you? Or did something happen along the way? Lost something? Maybe a few clothes…" Brock asked which gained him another punch in the head from Misty. Snap laughed and looked at the two boys at the door.

"Well, come on in guys. We've been waiting", Snap said as he led the two boys in and closed the door behind them. The five friends stood in front of Lance's desk and waited quietly for the two in front of them to finish their conversation. Ray glanced towards them and then he stopped talking and signaled for Lance to stop too. Lance turned around and greeted the gang.

"Well Prince Ash. How nice of you to drop by…" Lance said.

"You did order them here…"

"Shut up" Lance said to Ray. Ray rolled his eyes. The five youngsters laughed as Ray humoured them. Lance sighed. 'He'd fit in just fine…'

"Well now, everyone. This is Ray Chong. He's a newly trained acolyte and well, will be a personal acolyte for the prince from now on…" Ray looked at the group of youngsters in front of him. Well, they couldn't really be called youngsters by him since they were mostly his age anyway.

"Hey guys. Urm… Nice to meet you all"

"The pleasure is all ours…" Snap replied with a smile.

'Bishonen!' cried a very excited Ash in his thoughts. Misty and Snap also thought of the same idea. Richie and  
Brock just returned his smile.

"Owh yeah, I forgot…" Everyone looked at Ray. And Eevee hoped onto Ray's right shoulder," This is my Eevee".

"Cute! Bishonen and his Eevee!" Ash thought again and started to turn quite red. Brock saw thins and laughed mentally in his head. Misty sighed as she knew what Ash was thinking. Snap and Richie shrugged at the three that's acting quite weirdly.

"Well now, let me introduce them to you Ray. This is the prince; Prince Ash Ketchum of Pallet. Next to him is his personal maid, Misty. On the other side of the prince is Brock, his loyal and personal swordsman and well, soldier I supposed. The youngster with the golden blond hair is Snap, the prince's personal magician and last but not least, Richie, his personal archer", Lance explained.

'Hurm… I wonder why he needs all these personal guard and helpers?' Ray thought. Ray smiled at each and every one of them when they were introduced.

"And you'll be sharing your room with Richie and Snap", Lance added. Ray mentally kicked the old guy. Couldn't he get his personal space? Richie smiled and Snap lightened up.

'Aww… He could always sleep with me…' thought Ash and mentally kicked the high priest as well. Eevee jumped down from Ray's shoulder and snuggled against Snap's leg. Snap picked Eevee up and gave it a hug. Ray smiled.

"Looks like Eevee's made a new friend already" Ray said and he smiled at Snap. Snap blushed a little but knew very well how to cover it.

'Hope Eevee's not the only one wanting one of my hugs…' but he then mentally slapped his thoughts back to its senses as it was not helping him with the situation.

"Hey Ray, since you're new here, let us give you a tour of the Palace premises" Snap suggested and looked at his friends.

"No can do, have to go training…" Brock said while Richie nodded.

"It's best I'll leave it to the boys to give you the tour Ray" Misty said and smiled. Ray returned her smile and nodded at their suggestion.

"Alright, I'm in! I don't have much to do anyway… Let's go!" Ash said as he marched out of the room.

'Well he's full of energy' Ray thought as he followed Ash out of the room with Snap just behind him. Brock went up to Richie and whispered into his ears.

"Keep and eye on that magician. I think he has tricks up his sleeves for our new friend". Richie nodded and knew what Brock meant. Brock was one of those guys that have hunches that usually come true. Since they'll be sharing rooms, he'd be the best to keep an eye on Snap. Then, both the guys exit the room. Misty went up to Lance.

"High Priest… Is it really necessary for the prince to have his own acolyte?" Misty asked. Lance shrugged.

"Truthfully, he doesn't really need an acolyte. I'm just placing Ray with you guys so that he'd settle in easier with people his age and all and maybe he'd prove himself useful one of these days…" Misty nodded and saw that Lance had given her the answer she was looking for. Misty then made her way out of the room and closed the door behind her.

'I'm afraid the prince is in for more than he's expecting if Mew had sent someone to be close by…' Lance thought as he looked out of the window to see the Western Tower of the palace where the sages were at work.

-- Somewhere in the forest --

Gary woke up but felt tired and numb everywhere. He couldn't even keep his eyes opened for much too long and closed it back down again. The other pokemons just kept watch of the newly transformed Eevee from afar. After a while of more sleep, Gary gained the strength to move as his stomach was rumbling in search of food. He felt his head still hurting.

"_**What's wrong with my head? It hurts like hell!" **_Gary thought. He tried to reach his head with his hand but somehow knew that he couldn't. He looked confused and knew that something must be wrong. As he failed 

in rubbing his head with his own head, he gave up and let it go back to his side. Then, he felt something strange at his sides. It felt soft an furry… He looked down at his body and saw brown fur covering it. He screamed.

"_**What the heck happened? Why is my body like this?! Why are my hands short? OMG! I have paws!" **_He then thought of something and looked behind him. _**"I even have a tail to go with the whole thing! ARGH!" **_He then tried to stand up but failed miserably. The other pokemons laughed at the sight from behind the bushes. Gary then tried walking on all fours which felt very weird but he was able to maintain his balance. He walked up to a pond and looked at his reflection.

"_**I'm an Eevee? What is wrong with me? Is this a dream? More like a nightmare! What the heck happened here?"**_ Gary asked aloud. His questions caught the ears of a Poliwag who was trying to catch a nap. This enraged the little critter. It swam towards Gary with an angry face.

"_**Oh no… Don't tell me that tadpole's out to get me!" **_With that said, Poliwag shot a water gun attack which blew Gary a few meters back. Gary didn't know what to do. He knew pokemons can attack, but didn't know how to do it himself… Poliwag then waggled its way towards Gary and shot a bubble attack. Gary screamed as the bubbles hit him everywhere on his body.

"_**Aren't bubbles supposed to be softer?"**_ he asked himself as his pain grew. He fell down and breathes heavily. Suddenly, out of nowhere, another pokemon came in front of him. He wishes that the pokemon would defend him from this little critter. He felt weak and his sight was blurred. All he could see was a dark coloured pokemon with yellow rings here and there on its body.

"_**An Umbreon?"**_ Gary mentioned with his last strength and fainted. Umbreon smiled at the little weak Eevee and gave Poliwag a tackle which blew it back into the pond. Umbreon then went up to Gary and licked it's face. Umbreon gave a signal to the other to come out.

Espeon used its psychic attack to lift Gary up onto Umbreon's back while Vaporeon used water gun to wash Gary from all the dirt he picked up in the fight. They also saw that he had bruises. Glaceon produced ice to be placed on Gary's bruises. Then the pokemons followed Umbreon who was carrying Gary. They were in search of somewhere to spend the night as dust was setting. They then found a cave and settled in.

Leafeon produced a soft bed for Gary to sleep in and then it went out with Jolteon to gather up some fire wood. Upon their return, Flareon started the fire. The pokemons gathered around the fire and was chattering with each other. Glaceon slept next to Gary as it couldn't stand the heat produced by the bonfire. Then the pokemon all went to sleep.

-- Ray's new Room, Palace of Pallet --

Snap pushed Ray onto his bed and looked at him in the eyes. "Hey Ray… here's a welcoming kiss…" Snap kissed Ray on the lips who took it in hesitantly.

'Owh damn… No attachments, no regret…' Ray taught to himself and tried to push Snap off but it didn't work. His arms and legs were numb as though he couldn't feel them at all. Snap released Ray from his kiss and examined his jet black hair, his tanned skin, his hazel-brown eyes and his body. Damn, Snap hasn't seen anyone so perfect… for him.

"Snap… Please don't so this…" Ray asked. Snap took no notice and started to kiss Ray's cheeks and went down to his neck and shoulders. Ray moaned and tried to struggle.

"It's no use Ray…" Snap said and got up. Ray looked at Snap.

"Don't tell me…"

"Yes, I drugged you… Didn't have any other choice did I? I saw you giving me glances but I knew you were holding back Ray… So I had to give Richie and your Eevee sleeping potions. I just gave you something to make you numb all over and immobile"

"Snap…" Snap then sat back on Ray and kissed him on the lips. Ray pulled back.

"Don't tell me you're not enjoying this?"

"I won' lie to you… You're one heck of a cute guy but… I just can't, Snap… I don't know you too well yet and well, I just can't…"

"Don't worry; we have all night to get to know each other…" He started to take off Ray's acolyte robe.

"Snap… please…" Ray pleaded. He was enjoying it non-the-less but he knew he shouldn't. It'll just make it harder for him, and Snap later on. 'Mew… help me…' He thought.

"_**No can do my friend… Direct orders from above to let you have fun for a while…"**_ Ray could swear he heard the little pink fluff giggle.

'Selebi… please…' he prayed. Then, right on queue, Brock came into the room to check on him.

"Am I interrupting something?" he asked. Ray's face was flushed and he didn't have much strength left to do much resulting for them potion Snap had given him. Brock went up to Richie and nudged him, who just continued to sleep.

"Snap…"

"Alright… Alright… He wasn't into it much anyway…"

"Looks like I have to spend the night here…"

"Thanks Brock…"

"My pleasure…" Snap looked crossed. Ray told Brock to call Snap to him. Ray whispered something into Snap's ears which made him brighten up. Snap kissed Ray on the cheek and went to his bed. "What did you say to him? It's quite hard to please that guy when he's crossed".

"Owh… I have my method of persuasion… Thanks for helping me back then…"

-- Cave, Somewhere in a forest --

Gary woke up from his very peaceful and relaxing nap. He then remembered something.

"_**Aww… I'm still an Eevee…" **_He then looked around him. He saw what remained of a bonfire and he saw that he was sleeping in a very comfy pile of leaves. He then smelled something too. In front of him, he saw three fried fishes and water in a nicely carved… Ice? 'Whoever that was responsible for these, I owe them big time' he thought as he munched down on the fishes.

Gary then made his way out of the cave and ventured forward. He then came to a fork in the path.

"_**Why do I have a feeling that I should turn right?"**_ He shrugged it off and turned right. Espeon who was hiding in the bushes smiled. Her work was done. Now it was up to Gary to find its way towards Ray.

Gary then encountered a few Oddishes along the way. As he didn't know how to use attackes, he just tackled them and to his luck, it worked even if it did wear him out just a little. Battles were something new to him, heck, being a pokemon isn't something that happened everyday, does it?

He carried on walking forward, ignoring his tired little paw and his growling stomach.

-- Pond of Dragonair, Kingdom of Pallet --

"Don't you think we should have brought at least Brock along… just in case we get ambushed or something?" Ray asked. Ash chuckled. Ray was not used to the land of Pallet.

"Pallet is a peaceful place Ray. It's a really rare probability for us to get ambushed, kidnapped and so on so relax…"

"It's quite a nice and serene place, isn't it?" Ash nodded. "Why is it called the pond of Dragonair?"

"Well, legend has it that a Dragonair used to live here and well… create the calmness around this pond. But then it just needed to move around and left. Some people say that it appears once in a while in front of people that it would grant wish to, but they are just rumours…"

Eevee played around with Ray's robe and Ray picked it up and tickled its tummy. Ash smiled at the scene.

"You two seem very close" Ash noted. Ray nodded and smiled. He let go of Eevee who knew that she should go up to Ash. Ash picked her up and she snuggled into his warm embrace. Ash chuckled. "It's so very cute Ray… I wish I had a pokemon that would stay close to me and be my best friend…" Ray smiled. Everything was going as planned…

'Mew… want to play?'

"_**Sure Ray, what do you have in mind?"**_

'Play pretend you're a Dragonair and grant Ash here a wish…'

"_**Sounds interesting… I'll be there…"**_

Ray looked at Eevee and Ash playing around on the ground. 'They look so playful… What would befall this guy? He looks so innocent and fragile. I hope what's in store for him will not harm him…' Ray thought. Suddenly, Ray heard a chime of bells. Eevee heard it too and hoped away from Ash and climbed onto Ray. Ray looked into the pond and smiled. 'Mew's right on time…'

Ash looked kind of sad that Eevee ran away all of a sudden and portrayed his feelings to Ray. Ray just smiled. "Hey Ash, you know about that rumour you were telling me?" Ray asked. Ash raised an eyebrow. Ray then pointed behind Ash who couldn't believe what he could see now in front of him.

"D…D…Dragonair?" Ash asked. The pokemon nodded. Ash was too shocked to do anything. Dragonairs were very rare and seeing one with his own eyes would be considered a very lucky sight.

"_**Hello Prince Ash… I've seen you come here often and enjoyed the beauty of this pond I guard… occasionally".**_ Ash nodded and still didn't know what to do. _**"Well then Ash… I know you've heard rumours about me, and I'm glad to say that I'm here to grant you one wish… That is if it has to do with pokemons… I cannot help with human matters…"**_

Ash couldn't believe his luck. Just when he wanted a pokemon companion, puff a Dragonair appeared out of nowhere to grant him his wish. This type of coincidence only existed in fairytale! Ray looked on with a bright smile when he was tapped on his shoulders. He looked back and saw a floating pink pokemon smiling at him. He smiled back and looked at Ash and Mew. Mew?

"Aren't you supposed to be over there?" Ray asked as he turned around once more to face mew. Mew just smiled and said nothing. It used its tail to tickle Eevee here and there.

"_**Well Ray, it seems as though I'm not needed here… Better be off on my way then". **_With that said, she teleported away. Ray looked dumbstruck and turned back around to face Ash and Dragonair.

"Well Dragonair… I was thinking that it would be great if I had a pokemon that would be my companion… You know… Someone I can be with most of the time" Dragonair smiled.

"_**Don't worry Ash… I think I won't really need to grant you that wish…"**_ Dragonair then disappeared into the mist that appeared out of nowhere. Ash looked confused. Ray too was confused. He tried to reach Espeon thought his telepathy.

'When will you guys get here?'

Right on queue, Ray, Eevee and Ash saw a brown pokemon being blown away by a hydro pump attack into the pond they were at. The pokemon was starting to drown as it had just fainted and was unaware of its situation.

"OMG! Ray, there's a pokemon drowning!" Ash shouted and without hesitation, he plunged into the pond to its rescue. Ash then remembered that he couldn't swim but his determination to save the pokemon pushed him so that he'd reached it.

Upon reaching the pokemon, Ash saw that it was an Eevee but then he realised that he was nearly out of air and struggled to get back out of the water for some air. Ash struggled as his air supply ran out and he nearly passed out but he felt someone dragging him up. He looked around and saw another pokemon at his aid; a Vaporeon.

Ray quickly grabbed Ash and Gary up onto land. Ash was out of breath and tried regaining his inhaling and exhaling. Ray put his palm onto Ash's forehead and a green light glowed in tune with his shout.

"Heal" The, a pillar of green light swallowed Ash and he felt much better. Ash looked at Ray and thanked him. Then he remembered about the little Eevee he tried to save and examined it.

"Do you think it's alright?" Ash asked Ray. Ray nodded and took Gary away from Ash and healed it with his powers. "Now I see why having an acolyte around is handy! And thanks to that Vaporeon, we're still alive".

"Urm Ash, there's something I need to tell you…" Ash didn't like the tone of Ray's voice but looked up anyway. Ray handed Gary to Ash and then smiled. "Well you see, that Vaporeon was… mine… And so are these pokemons". One by one the pokemons came out of the bush. Ash examined each one. Jolteon. Vaporeon. Flareon. Espeon. Embreon. Leafeon. Glaseon and not forgetting Eevee. Ash looked in awe.

"Wow Ray!"

"Well, I need a favour to ask. Can they stay at the palace as well?"

"Sure they can!" Ray smiled. Ash was very cheerful. He held in his embrace a pokemon that would be his own, if it would cooperate once it got up. Ash kissed it on its forehead. The little pokemon smiled in its slumber.

* * *

Bboyz:  
That's it for this lil' chappie… I think I typed more that I intended to… Especially the part with Ray and Snap, never actually planned that but it just happened… LoL…

Ray:  
You are so… so… very cruel to not inform me of it beforehand! I was taken aback! Damn that Snap is good…

Bboyz:  
Well, someone enjoyed it, at least… hahaha… anyway, reviews please… and thanx for all the reviews for the 1st chappie. It was great reading them all! Till next time… (haven't planned much but you know where that has gotten me in this chappie P)


	3. Gary's Wish

Bboyz:  
Hey guys… again, thanx for the reviews. Well… I'm not too sure how much longer this fic is gonna be… But I hope that you guys will stay with it till the very end… Which I hope won't be far off now… If I don't get unexpected turn of events in my fic (which I usually do… i.e. ray and snap).

Ray:  
You did that on purpose!

Bboyz:  
Don't deny the fact that you liked it… (Bboyz smirked which made Ray blush a deep shade of red all over)

Gary:  
_**Let's leave those two alone, shall we? Bboyz does not own Pokemon, or anything that is associated with this great phenomenon! Hehehe…**_

Bboyz:  
I was supposed to do the disclaimers! (looks crossed) Flareon, Jolteon… Go after that little squirt with your fire blast and thunder! Hahahaha (laughs like an evil maniac frightening everyone around)

* * *

-- Prince Ash's Room, Palace of Pallet --

'_**Hurm… This feels so good… I haven't felt like this in a long time… It's so comfy… It's like I'm in my own bed… Wait a minute, maybe I am!' **_thought Gary. He opened one of his eyes to see his surrounding. He was on a comfy bed which was lined with maroon quilt and pillows. It looked so majestic, fit for a prince like himself.

'_**This can't be true… was it all a dream?' **_Then Gary saw that he was wrapped around by his bushy tail. He sighed. _**'I know that it was good to be true… When will this nightmare end?'**_ Gary then heard a really loud squeal and opened both his eyes and perched up his head on his… front legs. He looked around the room and searched for the source of the noise. He then saw three figures in front of him. Both the boys had black hair, one with an outfit that he would say was fit for a royal family member, and the other was wearing a robe he saw religious people wear. The other was an Eevee, which he didn't want to admit, was just like him. The person with very messy big hair came up and picked Gary up and looked at him; face filled with joy.

"You're like a dream come true! Aww… you look so cute! I just want to hug you forever and ever and ever…" Ash screamed and then hugged Gary to his chest. Gary felt much secured and felt the warmth that this boy was offering. He closed his eyes and smiled.

"_**Hey there…" **_he said. Ash looked confused. Ray came up to Ash and Gary and rubbed Gary's head. Gary felt good and purred.

"It just wanted to say hello Ash… By the way, why don't you name the little fellow", Ray suggested. Gary was surprised that the other boy knew what he was saying.

'_**Well, he does have an Eevee… He'd probably know a thing or two what I might mean' **_Gary thought. The boy named Ash looked at Gary again and raised him into the air and spun around with him. Gary felt quite happy with Ash even though he couldn't really conjure up the reason as to why he felt that way.

"He looks like a Shigeru to me!" Ash said as he the hugged Gary again. Gary made a very awful looking face at the statement Ash made. Ray chuckled.

"You really think so he Ash? I would call him Gary… It suits him better" Gary looked at the other boy that he still doesn't know of suspiciously. Ray winked.

'_**Well, whatever the reason he seems to know a lot… I don't give a damn… I'm still stuck as an Eevee. At least he did have a good taste in choosing names'**_ Gary thought. He then looked at how the Eevee and its master looked happy together. _**'Wow… they look so happy together… Just like how I was… I wonder what happened to my family. Wouldn't they be surprised I turned into an Eevee. Well… I'll just have to deal with it now… I want to be happy again… Maybe this Ash might give me that happiness and a sense of belonging…'**_

"You think so Ray? Well… Gary is a cute name too. I'll call you Gary then" Ash stated. Gary smiled and jumped onto Ash's shoulder and licked his cheek. Ash chuckled. Then Gary had a sudden realization of what he just did and looked dumbstruck.

'_**Did I just do what I think I did' **_Gary thought. He then looked at Ash who smiled happily. Gary couldn't help but smile. _**"Hey ashy-boy…"**_

Suddenly, the door flung open and came in a few surprised looking youths. Ash, Gary, Ray and Eevee looked at them all; confused.

"You could have at least told us that you went out!" Misty said as he stormed in and gave Ash a punch in the head. Ash let go of Gary and rubbed his head. Gary hopped along and climbed onto Ray's other shoulder. The three just watched as Ash got pounded by his band of friends.

"Hey hey hey… stop it guys. It's not Ash's fault. It was my fault that I asked him about a rumour I heard. He just took me to the Pond of Dragonair…" Ray didn't finish his sentence when he saw four annoyed looking friends coming to get him. "Owh, diplomacy just doesn't work does it?" Ray then ran around the room as fast as he could escaping the raging friends he had chasing him.

"Guys… he's quick, for a mere acolyte. He must have used 'blessings' which improved his agility. Let's use out heads!" Richie suggested. The two Eevees just looked at all the commotion in awe.

Richie took out an arrow and shot it towards Ray who dodged and thought that Richie was mad. Brock too threw a sword his way which went in between both his legs, immobilizing him. He then fell down but he did not fall flat onto the ground but was held hanging. He looked back and saw that Richie's previous arrow went through his acolyte robe. Then he felt something chilly down under. He saw that Snap had used a spell to freeze his feet. Ray sweat dropped.

'Man… these guys mean business…' he thought and looked at three annoyed looking faces. He sighed. They have won. He'd have to admit defeat; he wouldn't like to fight the losing battle he was in. He held up both his hands in signal of surrender and saw that Ash two had been forced into surrendering by a scary looking misty.

"So… Since it was you who abducted the prince… Then it would only be fair that you'd get the punishment! Do you know how hard it was to cover up for his unexpected disappearance?" Richie asked. Brock nodded in agreement while Snap smirked evilly. Ray didn't like the looks of how things were going, especially with Snap.

"Hey guys… it's not totally his fault you know…"

"And that's why you be the one that will be doing all the explaining young man"

"Misty, I'm just a year younger"

"Who cares… So, how would we teach Ray a lesson?" Misty asked. Ray looked around and saw and excited looking Snap which he dreaded so much.

"Don't worry, I'll handle it" Knowing Snap was a master of nature and a spell-binding magician, Misty and Richie agreed without any doubts towards Snap's suggestion while Brock was a little suspicious. Ray looked at Brock, pleading for help with his sadden expression.

'That'd teach you a lesson' Brock thought and nodded; a sign of agreement towards Snap's idea. Snap turned towards Ray and smirked. He held Ray by the ear and whispered… "Owh… I'll teach you a lesson alright" and dragged him out the door. Ray waved his arms frantically in an attempt to free himself or even ask for help but his actions fell onto deaf ears and blind eyes. Eevee and Gary looked sadly towards the fellow.

Misty, Richie and Brock turned towards Ash and demanded explanations. Ash gulped.

-- Outside Prince Ash's Room, Palace of Pallet --

Snap pushed Ray against the wall of somewhere remote and hidden. He crushed his lips onto Ray's and kissed him passionately which made Ray flushed and red. Ray couldn't help but kiss back. He couldn't deny that Snap was very seductive and a hell of a damn good kisser. Snap started to trail kissed onto Ray's cheeks, licked his ears and trailed more kisses down his neck and onto his shoulder, which resulted in moans of pleasure.

"Snap… please… Why are you doing thins to me?"

"Cut out the crap Ray, you know you want it" Ray couldn't deny that either. He was hard and rubbing against a hard Snap too. Snap trapped both Ray's hands over his head, pressing it hard onto the wall as another one of his hands wandered down the acolyte's body. Ray moaned.

"I thought this was supposed to teach me a lesson"

"A lesson in obedience" Snap rubbed his hand over Ray's erection and teased him. Ray shuddered against his abductor.

'My no attachment, no regrets policy is going so well…' he thought sarcastically and then screamed as Snap bit his neck, then sucked and licked it.

"You're mine…"

"Fuck you!"

"I'd gladly oblige my dear…"

"You… you" Snap shut Ray up with another one of his wet passionate kiss and Ray just closed his eyes and admitted defeat. Snap let go of his hand which made Ray hang his around Snap's neck while Snap held a firm grip of Ray's waist.

"I'm obedient now… Can't you let go of me?"

"Who would do such a foolish thing?"

"Aren't you taking all of this a little too fast?"

"I guess you do have a point there Ray…"

"So you'd let me go?"

"Not a chance!"

"But…"

"There's still that lesson I owe you for abducting the prince"

"And I thought you wouldn't hurt me…"

"Who gave you that idea?" Snap said and smirked.

-- Prince Ash's Room, Palace of Pallet --

Everyone was still waiting for an explanation while Ash took both Eevees and hugged them on his bed.

"Don't tell me Ray's Eevee's using its double team?" Brock asked. Ash shook his head and started to relay the whole story to them.

"You saw the legendary wishing Dragonair? Wow!" Richie was amazed. Brock too couldn't believe what he was hearing and held up Gary to examine him. Misty snatched him away from Brock and cuddled it.

"Well Ash, you're lucky. It's so cute… Just like Ray's"

"It was a little beat up when we rescued it…"

"When you were rescued too"

"Yes, yes… I kindda drowned as well… But still, aside that… It was quite beaten up. Ray used his acolyte skills and healed it…He also healed me too"

"Well… We're very thankful he was there, and his Vaporeon too. Which remind me that I should go check up on him before Snap murders him" Brock said and let the room. 'Or even worst' Brock thought as he closed the door to Ash's room. Brock made his way down a few steps when he heard some noise.

-- Training grounds, Palace of Pallet --

"Fire Ball!" Snap shouted at the top of his lungs as he held out his hand. Balls of fire started to appear out of nowhere. Snap pointed towards Ray which made the fire balls jolted towards him.

"Angelus" The fire balls burnt out as it hit an invisible barrier that Ray had conjured up.

"Your skills are impressive Ray… Napalm Beat"

"Holy Light" both attacks cancelled each other out resulting with massive explosions blowing the two boys back a few step. "Increase Agility, Blessing" Mini angel-like projection circled around Ray making him glow for a few seconds. Then he dashed through the smoke and sneaked up behind Snap.

"Fire Wall!" Snap conjured up a wall of fire behind him which protected him from Ray's attempts. Ray jumped back as he had suffered a little from the burns he got running into the wall.

"Heal!" Ray said as he glowed in a pillar of green light. Then without much warning he dodged a few more fire balls and ice sickles that fell out of nowhere.

"STOP ALL OF THIS!" Ash shouted from his balcony, accompanying him was Richie who shot a few arrows between the two, Misty who looked horrified, Eevee who wanted to come to Ray's aid and Gary who looked impressed.

"_**Wow… that acolyte held his ground against a magician? How cool is that! And I always thought that acolytes were bad at battles…"**_ Gary thought as he remembered a few of his friends back home who was taught the art of magic and the holy path fighting each other over petty quarrels and always ending with the magician victorious.

Ray took out something blue from his pocket and held it tight in his fist. "Teleport" Snap crossed is arms across his chest in annoyance and walked away from the training grounds.

-- Prince Ash's Room, Palace of Pallet --

'_**Poor girl… She must be missing Ray…' **_Gary thought as he looked at Eevee who wondered around the room aimlessly. Gary hopped down from Ash's bed and went up to the Eevee who responded strangely and left the room. _**'What was that all about?'**_

Gary then walked out to the balcony to greet Ash who was lazily looking out at the palace ground and also the outside world he rarely gets to escape to. He felt Gary brushed at his feet and picked him up, perching him on the railings of the balcony to also enjoy the view he was embracing.

"It's huge isn't it? I can't believe someday I have to rule over this whole kingdom…" Ash sighed. Gary looked at Ash and knew how he was feeling. Gary too used to think like that before, well; when he was still a prince. He went up to Ash and licked Ash's cheek. Ash chuckled. "You know how to cheer me up, don't you Gary"

Again, Gary was dumbstruck. _**'I licked a guy?! What was I thinking! Well… I didn't feel that bad… Hey, what am I saying, I felt kindda good really…' **_Gary thought as Ash gave him one of the usual hugs he could never get bored with. It felt so warm, comfy and cozy. He felt at home in Ash's embrace. But he knew his family was still waiting for him in Viridian. He had to get back whenever he has figured out what happened to him and how he could change himself back to being a human.

'_**But wait… what'll happen with Ash? He'll get lonesome again… Owh man, eclipse of the heart' **_Gary thought but chuckled at his last statement.

"What's so funny Gary?" Ash asked as his smiled beamed at Gary. Gary smiled back which made his eyes close.

__

"_**You wouldn't know even if I told you… And secondly, you'd never believe me… But still, I can talk to you even if you don't understand" **_Gary said. Ash cuddled him closer.

"The world must have been tough on you before you got here eh?" Ash asked. Even thought Ash didn't really understand what he just said, Gary knew Ash might have felt what he was feeling. Gary then settled into Ash's cuddle as Ash took him into his room.

-- Ray's Room, Palace of Pallet --

Eevee pushed the door open and ran up to Ray to lick his cheeks. Ray picked the little critter up and lay on his bed. He was exhausted.

'Snap is so strange… One minute he cuddles up to me and then suddenly he's out to kill me!' Ray thought. Ray saw Eevee's concerned face and knew that Eevee could detect his feelings. Ray smiled and tried to cheer Eevee up.

"Don't worry Eevee, that bad magician couldn't hurt me…" Suddenly, Ray felt something warm wrapped around him. He turned to his side and saw his worst nightmare.

"I can't hurt you?"

"Why are you here Snap? Isn't what had happened today enough excitement for a bored little magician like you?"

"Owh… I can think of more activities to tire myself out" Snap then winked.

"You did that on purpose, didn't you? You tire me out so that I won't have much energy to…"

"You got the idea" Eevee growled at Snap. Ray calmed her down.

"It's alright Eevee…"

"You know you want it"

"But not right now… I'm exhausted"

"Owh fine… Rest up…" Snap made his way to the door. "But don't miss me too much" snap then closed the door behind him. Ray shuddered at the thought.

"Hey Eevee, let's get some sleep…" Ray laid Eevee beside him on his bed and started to doze off. Eevee licked Ray on the cheek which made him smile. "We have to tell him sooner or later…" Ray then fell into deep slumber followed closely by Eevee.

Jolteon, Flareon, Vaporeon, Umbreon, Espeon, Glaceon and Leafeon came into the room as they scent Ray was in discomfort but found that he was sound asleep with Eevee. The all walked up to the bed, some climbing onto it and some just laid on the ground. They too joined in with the little slumber party.

-- Somewhere in the Palace, Palace of Pallet --

Gary was sat on a window sill. He watched the clouds drift by and sighed, remembering his home and his family. He missed them so much even if Ash made him feel right at home. He misses his mum who usually healed him after a little sparing with his dad. He misses teasing his sister with Tracy. He misses visiting his grandpa and the elders atop their palace. He missed being himself…

Then he felt a presence behind him and turned his head to see what it was. He then saw Ray and then looked back at the clouds.

"Are you lonely Gary?"

"_**Yeah…"**_

"Why didn't you say so? Eevee and I are here, so you can come to us anytime for some company. If we're not enough company for you then there's Flareon. She's in the kitchen. Jolteon and Leafeon are out in the garden. Vaporeon and Glaceon should be in the moat of in one of those fountains and don't bother trying to look for Umbreon and Espeon… Even I can't keep track of where they are…"

"_**Owh, thanks…"**_

"Hey, cheer up"

"_**Not like you'd understand what I'm going through…"**_

"Actually, I do…" Gary looked at Ray in amazement.

"_**You were actually responding to me, weren't you? I thought you just had a hunch of what I was saying…"**_

"Hey… I've been here this long. You heard my replies. At least you still have the brain power to realize I understand you" Eevee gave Ray a little head butt about the brain comment. "Hey, I meant it in a good way. You guys have brains too… I wouldn't know how the spell would turn out…"

"_**What spell?"**_

"It's only fair if I told you the whole truth… Well Gary, the Kingdom of Viridian isn't the same as how you remember it nowadays…"

"_**What do you mean?"**_

"You don't remember much, do you? I wouldn't have thought you too would be affected by my memory eraser spell"

"_**Can we get straight to the point?"**_

"Ok… Remember Giovanni?" Gary nodded, "Well, he found an ancient prophesy in the Cave of Relics in Viridian Forest. Truthfully speaking, those prophesy was not at whole so he believed that by carrying out a few act, he'd come into power over the whole kingdom"

"_**And overthrow my family?"**_

"Yeah… Well… Do you at least remember that you went out on an outing with your family without the knowledge of any guards… well, anyone…" Gary seemed blur. "One day, you suggested that you and your family went out to the Viridian Forest for a break from royalty… You got bored of being guarded. Then you guys came upon the Cave of Relics by accident… and then…"

"_**Yeah?"**_

"You really don't remember eh? I don't really want to break the news…"

"_**It's better than being turned into pokemon…"**_

"Owh know, I'm afraid it's much worst than that…" Eevee jumped up to the window sill and sat beside Gary, hoping to give him a little support. Gary looked confused.

"_**What could be worst?"**_

"Well… your family kind of had a fight with Giovanni in that cave… Your parents and sister tried their hardest to protect you since Giovanni was after you, but eventually, they had to give in. He was much too powerful, and experienced for them. Your whole family didn't really k now his background, I don't too but I only know that he's from a line of black magicians…"

"_**Don't tell me my family got turned into Eevees too?"**_ Ray shook his head. Gary couldn't think of anything else that could have happened to his family.

"Gary… They died protecting you…" Gary looked shocked and almost fell backwards but was held in place by Eevee. Gary shook his head in disbelief. He held back tears in his eyes and jumped off the window sill and ran down the stairs. Eevee made his way to chase after Gary but Ray held her back.

"Let him be by himself for a while…"

-- Secret Garden, Palace of Pallet --

Without knowing where he was going, Gary just kept holding back the tears he had in his eyes and ran as far away form the truth as possible. He shot through doors, hallways, halls and many more spaces. Then he came up to a garden with a huge sakura tree in the middle. He was amazed at the beauty of the garden but his bleeding heart kept pulling him back into reality. He ran up to the tree and poured out his sorrow.

"_**Why did they have to do such things… Why give up their life for mine? Why?"**_

Ray knew about the secret garden and had Espeon guide Gary there out of his conscience. It would be best for him to be there where the atmosphere is calm for him to think straight. He sighed at the thought of how much the guy had to go through… Being a pokemon is hard enough for him but not knowing about his family and having the hope of returning into their embrace is another…

"_**Am I cursed?"**_

'Yes you are Gary… You were cursed since the day you were destined to be born… But you were also blessed…' Ray thought as he saw Gary crying by the sakura tree. He then left Gary to be alone and perched up onto one of the trees nearby.

"Gary! How did you ever find this place?" Gary looked surprised and saw Ash running up to him. "Hey, you don't look so good… What's wrong?" Ash picked him up and cradled Gary in his arm.

"_**In short… My whole life…"**_ Gary said and he sighed… He didn't want to worry Ash more than he had already done so. Why is that? He too had no clue on why he wanted only happiness for Ash… Maybe because he doesn't want Ash to go through all the things he just discovered he did.

Ash then sat down and kissed Gary on the forehead. He nuzzled his nose against Gary which cheered the little critter up a little. Gary smiled at Ash's attempt to cheer him up.

"There you go… I hope you'll stay happy Gary!" Gary licked Ash on the face.

"_**Thanks Ash… You made my day much better… Just by being here" **_Gary said and smiled at the prince. Ash smiled back.

"Don't worry about it. I come here when I'm sad too… It's just so magical here that it helps me recover so quickly…" Gary made a concerned face. Ash chuckled.

"I just gave away my little secret eh? I'm just sad… I don't really know how to explain it… I'm the prince, and well, it's just that I'm expected to be perfect all the time. Be the perfect son, find a perfect princess, marry her in a perfect wedding, rule perfectly, have children… But my heart says differently…"

"_**Follow your heart ashy-boy…"**_ Gary said. Ash smiled.

"Well… You know… I don't know why but I'm more interested in guys than girls" Gary chuckled. Ash wouldn't really be this open if he was with a human… "You know Richie… well, I have a crush on him, and also Snap but I know they're not meant for me. We are never meant to be… But Gary… I dream of a guy that would give me peace… Give me joy… That would make me feel special… Sometimes, I think I found that guy…"

"_**Who's the lucky chap?" **_Gary asked and suddenly was confused on why he used the term 'lucky'. Did he want to be with Ash? No… It couldn't have been that…

"Well… The only thing is, that guy I found isn't really a guy at all… It's a pokemon…" Ash said as he held Gary close to him and hugged him. He rubbed Gary's head and played around with his tail.

__

"_**I'm the lucky guy? Hahahaha…" **_Gary was amused but it did cheer him up from the feeling he had before. Gary looked up and licked him on the cheeks. _**"Don't worry Ashy-boy… I don' think I'll be going anywhere anytime soon. I like you too"**_

Suddenly, the atmosphere was calm and peaceful. Sakura petals danced in the wind surrounding them in pink snowfall. Without their knowledge, Leafeon and Espeon were at work. Espeon sent our psychic waves to calem the two souls down and Leafeon made the garden in harmony with them. Ash and Gary looked around and then smiled at each other.

Espeon and Leafeon then ran up to Ray who was also monitoring the two. "Good job guys…" Ray patted both the pokemon on their head and then he jumped off the branch of one of the other trees in the garden, disappearing into nothingness. Both the pokemon went back to their respective posts.

-- Lance's Room, Palace of Pallet --

"Ray… truthfully, I don't know what the heck you are but you've mastered so much in so little time. By the looks of things, you could even be a priest in a few months time", Lance said at Ray who was sitting at his desk and playing around with Eevee.

"You know I'm not normal…" Ray said. Lance nodded. Ray then stood up and walked out of the room with Eevee trailing closely behind.

"Mew, what do you have planned for us?" Lance asked as he looked up into the sky.

'_**Time will unveil everything…' **_Lance heard the harmonious childish voice and sighed. He didn't really like not knowing what was going around but knowing Mew was involved, he wouldn't want to interfere.

* * *

Bboyz:  
Alright… That's it for this chapter. More Ray and Snap scenes! Hahahaha… And to think that this fic was initially a Gary x Ash only fic… Gary's still an Eevee so I just couldn't resist but to play around with Ray and Snap… hahahaha

Ray:  
A boy and his raging hormones… Come to think of it, Snap's just the same… (Ray sighed and shook his head)

Gary:  
_**So, what's going on in the next chapter? I only know that it's called 'Gary's wish'**_

Bboyz:  
And that's about everything everyone will know before it is actually posted up! Hahahaha… More Ray and Snap? I'm not so sure… Heck… I just type whatever that races across my mind (to think there's a lot of room up there for racing? Hahaha)


	4. Training Commence

Bboyz:  
Thanx for reviewing… ahaks! Another update which I currently don't know what to babble about before the fic actually starts… Weird, I know… but beneficial to the human race in general…

Ray:  
What he doesn't realize is that even if he doesn't really know much to say, he still takes up much space for not knowing what to say… sigh… (bboyz sends a very evil glare that made Ray shudder in fear)

Lance:  
**Bboyz does not own pokemon and its associates.**

-- Ray's room, Palace of Pallet --

The door slowly opened. Ray was sitting with Eevee, playing around and having fun as his classes with Lance was cut short due to him being a fast learner. Gary looked up and slowly walked up to them both. Ray held out a hand to welcome Gary. Gary smiled and hopped onto the bed.

"_**I'm sorry about ditching you the other day…"**_

"It's nothing… Don't worry about it… I would say I understand but then again, you'd probably disagree…" Gary smiled at the thought of Ray being one step ahead of him.

"_**So… they're really gone eh?" **_With a saddened face, Ray nodded. Gary sighed. _**"So… they died protecting me? I feel so wrong…"**_

"Don't be…" Ray patted Gary on the head. "Don't you actually want to know how you got changed into and Eevee?" Gary looked up; tears were held back in his eyes, and slowly nodded. Ray pitied the guy and picked him up and sat him on his lap and brushed his fur and tail.

"Well, after Giovanni actually got you, he tortured you for quite a while. When he was going to give you the final blow, your grandpa showed up. He tried to uncast the spell Giovanni was using but couldn't so he resulted into ancient spell. Something happened that shocked both of them. Giovanni's spell didn't back fire nor was it uncast but your grandpa did get to stop him from killing you. With the combination of both spells, somehow you turned into an Eevee"

"_**How do you know all this?" **_Ray didn't have the heart to tell the guy that he was watching everything from the beginning and couldn't help out and prevented the murders.

"Well… I had to take you away from the place… It's to dangerous for you to stay there with both men still confused over what had happened. So I took you away but then suddenly…" Ray didn't know how to say it but he just didn't have the heart to lie to Gary either, "I got struck by a lightning bolt and kindda dropped you. But I left my pokemon to aid you along the way here…"

"_**You knew I was gonna be here?"**_

"Actually… We guided you here using Espeon's psychic. Pallet is a peaceful kingdom where you can rest and recover from everything. It's defense and military forces are very powerful so you'd be protected from threat…"

"_**What kind of threats?"**_

"A human becoming a pokemon; don't you think it'd stir up interest in researchers and all?" Gary nodded and then looked down to its paws on Ray's lap. "Hey Gary… listen here. There's this very wise old guy once told me 'Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery and today is a gift. That is why it is called the present'. Use that present Gary and wish and dream for the future…"

"_**Hey Ray… Do you think I'll be able to change back into a human again?" **_Ray nodded. Gary smiled as he looked up into the boy's eyes. _**"I don't suppose you know how I can change back?"**_ Ray chuckled.

"I'm a mere acolyte you little critter. I don't do hocus pocus and abra kadabra. I would help if I knew but I don't… Sorry about that" Gary smiled.

__

"_**It's ok… I just wish that I can change back into a human… It's not easy being an Eevee… I don't even know how to fend myself if ever attacked… I just wish…"**_

"Well… keep on wishing… You'd never know, someday maybe your wish might come true. It did for Ash…"

"_**Really? And what wish was that?"**_

"To have a companion by his side…" Gary felt guilty. If he changed back into a human, well, Ash would lose him… He didn't know what to think now. He wanted to change back but he wouldn't want to hurt Ash. Why should he care about the boy more than himself?

"_**Hey, thanks Ray… You're like a link to my past… Without you I'd probably would still be dreaming of returning to Viridian; back to my family"**_

"Hey… Hush now… Don't say things like that… You still have your old gramps"

"_**Well, it still wouldn't be the same…"**_

"Don't worry… You can at least be sure that you have me, Eevee and all my other pokemons by your side now…" Gary smiled.

"_**Why are you helping me? We're not even related…"**_

"I guess I'm just a Good Samaritan! Hehehe" Ray laughed. Gary couldn't help but chuckled. Gary then hopped off Ray's lap and made his way towards the door.

"_**I'm serious, thank you so much…"**_ He then disappeared back out the door. Ray looked sadly on.

'Stay tough Gary… There's still a long way to go… Heck, even I don't know much of what's in store for you… I guess I should have paid more attention when I was given my mission…' Ray thought.

-- Prince Ash's Room, Palace of Pallet --

It has been a few days since Gary last met Ray. Since then, he was always by Ash's side. He heard Ash's dreams, what he thought of the whole palace, what he thought of his friends and all sorts of things. It was one of those afternoon sessions where everyone would gather and spend some time together.

Richie kept and eye on both Eevee and Gary and observed them both. Ray saw this but shrugged it off as it wouldn't really bring much harm to either one. On the other hand, he felt very insecure as he saw Snap was gazing up towards him with a starry look on his face as Misty couldn't stop chatting to Ash and him. Brock was next to Ray, trying to calm the poor guy down. Then, the issue came up.

"Hey Ash, don't you think you should train Gary? Comparing them both, I think Ray's Eevee is way more experienced than Gary. Just think about it Ash; Gary does need some kind of skills in order to defend and improve itself" Gary looked up to Richie.

"_**Well… You're concerned about me… Thank you"**_

"You do have a point but I don't think Gary would be in any harm staying around me" Ash replied.

"But you know, Richie does have a point. Gary would need some experience just to grow…" Snap added after he woke up from his daydream about Ray in speedos. Misty and Brock nodded.

"What do you think Ray?" Ray turned to face Ash.

"Well… It couldn't hurt for him to train… He'd be healthier that way" Gary snorted. It was funny to comment about his health but Ray does have an Eevee of his own. Well, he practically has a bunch of Eevees.

"_**Hey… I only know how to tackle"**_

"Then who'd be better to do the job than you yourself Ray. You own like… every known Eevee and its evolutionary stages", Misty said. Ray just realized it and chuckled.

"Yeah… You'd be great. Can you do it for me… please…"

"_**Hey Ray… Please do it… I can't stand to watch him beg like that…"**_

"Alright, but I'll be needing help from all of you"

"Consider it done" answered all five of them. Ray didn't know what he got into but he'd just have to deal with it now. He then waved and left the room. Without knowing it, Snap followed closely behind. Then suddenly Ray felt his waist being held and his weight being pushed up the wall.

"Snap…"

"Yeah Ray…"

"Don't you think we could just have a normal relationship… I mean friendship…"

"What are you; kidding?"

"I'm serious…"

"But I like you…"

"I'd keep that in mind the next time you try to swallow me up…"

"Hey… who can blame me for falling head over heels for a guy like you…"

"I can think of a few people…"

"Ray… what is it that you hate so much about me?"

"When did I ever give you that impression… Owh, I forgot… Every single time you try to screw me…"

"Hey… I was only getting intimate"

"Well… I'll be frank about it Snap. I'm not ready for anything like this. Heck, I don't even know you much…"

"Well… I guess I'll just have to be a friend then?"

"I guess so…" Ray replied hesitantly. Snap let go of Ray's waist. He looked sadly into Ray's eyes who tried to avoid his gaze. Snap sighed. He held Ray's head for a little passionate kiss and then left Ray alone. Ray stood still, still dazed from the kiss. He touched his lips and sighed. He then walked off into the opposite direction.

-- Ray's room, Palace of Pallet --

Snap sat on his bed, looking down to his feet. Richie cam into the room and sensed that Snap wasn't feeling as happy as he would usually be. The archer came next to Snap and sat there.

"Anything the matter Snap?"

"Owh… It's nothing… I was just being a little impolite to Ray, that's all… And I feel kind of bad about it now…"

"You mean you've been seducing him too much?" Snap looked alarmed. "Let's face it… It's not like Brock would keep it to himself you know. It's something he's not keen on…"

"Yeah… He caught me red handed before…" Richie smiled and put his arm around Snap's back and gave him a few friendly pats.

"Don't worry… There's more fish in the sea…"

"But I don't want other fishes…"

"Well then… You'd just have to wait till he's ready then… From what Brock had told me, it's not like he didn't want it at all…"

"Yeah, I suppose you're right"

"As always!"

"As always…"

Little did the two boys know but Ray was outside the door listening to their conversation. Ray sighed. He didn't know what to do. Why couldn't Celebi just zapped Snap's feeling out so that it wouldn't hurt him. Ray couldn't walk into the room so he decided to head somewhere else.

For a few days, Ray and Snap said very little to each other and both were awkward to face each other. Ray hanged around Richie more to avoid being caught alone by Snap who were less seen in the castle ground during the day. Richie told Ray that Snap was a magician; a force of nature. He feels at home training in the great outdoors and nurturing the flora and fauna just outside the palace walls.

Ray was curious one day and slipped out of the castle grounds to spy on Snap. He walked around into the forest and saw a figure waving a wand around. It was Snap. Ray saw that he was happily training his magical skills and playing around with the wild pokemons. Ray smiled and left. Now he knew that Snap wasn't too broken up about what he had said; but that was only an assumption he could come out with observing Snap from the outside.

-- Training Grounds, Palace of Pallet --

One day, Ray asked Richie to join him and Ash at the training grounds. He was told to bring his bow and arrows along, which he would never go anywhere without them anyway. Snap tagged along just to see what Ray was up to. When Snap and Richie arrived, they saw that Ray, Ash, Gary and Eevee were already waiting for them.

"Sorry we're late… Snap decided to tag along at the last minute and he had to well… need to sort out his stuff before leaving the room… Owh, you guys know the story…" Richie explained. Ash sighed while Ray giggled. Ray and Snap stared at each other. Ray gave him a smile which was happily returned.

"Why did you call all of us here today?"

"Well Ash, like you said the other day; you wanted me to train Gary right?" Gary gulped. He was afraid that Ray would have thought of something to train him. He was unsure of Ray's method of training but he was glad no wild pokemons were involved.

"Don't you train pokemons, with other pokemons?" Richie asked. Ray smirked.

"But Gary's no ordinary pokemon…" Gary looked suspiciously at Ray. Was he gonna let the meowth out of the bag? "He's Ash's little darling… He'll need special training". Phew. Gary thought that Ray was going to reveal his little secret to everyone, not that he minded much since well, not much people would believe it, would they? Then he remembered that Ray was the one guiding him here, trying to fend him from harm's way. He suddenly thought of what Ray had said…

'What does he mean by 'special'?'

Richie raised an eyebrow, signaling Ray to explain further as to why he was needed there… Snap just waited to hear more while Ash hopped around with Gary, saying that he was 'special'. Ray smirked.

"Ash, place Gary in the center of the training ground. Richie, you come here and Snap, since you're around you can watch from here as well…" Everyone did as Ray told them to. Ray then whispered instructions to Richie. Richie looked shocked at first but then he calmed down. Gary was anxious and well, he was scared of what Ray had in store for him.

"Is it really ok?"

"Yes, well… Pokemons can push their limits easier when they sense that they are in danger…"

"_**Ray… What are you planning?"**_

"Don't worry Gary, it won't hurt. I'll let my lil' Eevee give you a quick demonstration" Ray pointed his arm towards the middle of the training ground and Eevee without even having told to do so, made her way along Ray's arm and jumped gracefully towards Gary. "Now, let's begin our speed module"

Richie took out his bow and arrows and aimed it into the air just above Eevee while Gary made sure he was well out of the way. "Arrow shower!" Richie shouted as he let go of his arrow which flew straight above Eevee and as it came down, it multiplied into tens, twenties or maby fifty arrows coming towards Eevee.

"Eevee, agility and quick attack" Ray commanded. Eevee's face looked determined as she started dashing here and there avoiding every arrow that was falling towards her. Ray looked towards Snap and gave him a signal.

"Frost diver!" A mystical cloud appeared and stated to shoot chunks of ice towards Eevee. Eevee bent her hind legs and jumped towards the chunks in lightning speed. She smashed into the chunks which shredded into million tiny ice crystals that sparkled majestically. The Eevee ran up to Ray, climbed onto his shoulder and licked him on the cheek. Richie, Snap and Ash was amazed and smiled as the pokemon made her way back to Ray.

"Wow Eevee… That was one heck of a show" Eevee blushed at Richie's comment and licked Snap's hand as he patted her.

"Ray… do you think Gary can do that?"

"Don't worry Ash…" Ray looked staright towards Gary. He smirked evilly. "He will; he has to" Gary gulped and prayed that his body would respond to his thoughts at the speed that would save his tail

'_**Hey… I made a stupid joke about my tail at a time like this… Wow, I must be getting used to this body, or it might be the intense pressure… What the heck, it's not like he's going to kill me even if he did gave me that evil smirk. He was the one that saved me…' **_Gary thought to himself, trying to be optimistic and keeping himself positive. He then saw Ash's worried look and it made him a little sad to see such a beautiful face having to bare with that much sadness. He smiled and jumped at the sight of Ash to cheer him up.

"You be careful now Gary. Just escape if you think you can't handle it…" Ash gave his last words before Ray faced Gary's way.

"If… he can escape, that is…" Gary gulped again.

'_**He's not gonna kill me… He's not gonna kill me… He's not gonna kill me…"**_ Gary chanted quietly awaiting the arrows. Ray and Eevee giggled, sharing a joke with each other. Ray then gave Richie a signal to initiate his action.

"Here goes nothing… arrow shower!" As it did before, the arrows multiplied. Gary then heard a voice talking to him.

"Gary, dodge the arrows…" Ray instructed quietly. It could have been telepathy but Gary saw the boy moving his lips when those words came out of his mouth. "You have many senses… Don't only use one"

Gary used his sight to predict where the arrows are going to fall and used his instinct to move. All for of his legs sprung to life as the arrows made contact with the ground one by one. Gary felt himself being very light and springy. He bounced here and there, dodging arrows but he was getting over confident.

"Don't lose you head" Then, Gary felt something sharp ran beside his tail and scarred it. He whimpered with pain as it stings him. Ash made a move towards Gary but Snap stopped him. Ray looked worried. 'Gary's losing his confidence… He's losing control over his body…'

Then a few more arrows made contact with his skin here and there where he could barely dodge them. Gary yelled in pain. Ash couldn't help it but knew he wasn't supposed interfere. The last of the arrows made contact with the ground as Gary's body collapsed. His head was still strong enough to keep looking at Ray who had a disappointed look. Gary felt ashamed. He knew he had it in him. He made it half way through the arrows perfectly fine…

"That's enough for today guys… We'll have to train again once he gets better. Heal!" Ray put his palms facing Gary who glow green in tune with Ray's hands. Gary felt himself a lot better. He's scars were there but it didn't sting anymore. He leapt out of Ash's arms and walked towards Ray.

__

"_**I can handle some more…"**_ Ray didn't respond and walked away. Eevee looked sadly at Gary over Ray's shoulder as they both disappeared into the palace. Gary looked down to his paw. He failed his training miserably. He then felt himself being picked up and Ash played with his nose.

"Cheer up big guy… It's only your first training! You did quite well considering that you never trained before…" Ash smiled which made Gary smile back as he felt the boy's warmth and love. However, deep inside, he felt shattered. 'No, I've actually been preparing these past few days… I've been sprinting along in the garden… I jumped on the squirtles' shells in the pond… but somehow… I even failed myself…'

Ash gave Gary a kiss on the forehead and nuzzled his head into Gary's. Gary couldn't help but cheer up and licked Ash's cheek. They both chuckled. Richie and Snap looked at the happy duo and smile but Snap couldn't help but think about Ray. He needed a friend.

-- Lance's Office, Palace of Pallet --

"Stay as long as you like in here. I've got to go meet up with the sages at the opposite tower… Then down to the crusader's office. I've got a busy day ahead… You don't need my company do you?" Ray shook his head.

'He mentions his busy and then offers his company? What a guy…' Ray thought. He smiled. Will he change and become that nice as he grow older into a priest? He doubted it. He sat on the chair and stared out the window as Lance walked out of the room. Eevee rested on the desk and nodded to sleep. Then two figures entered the room from the shadows.

"Hey guys…" Umbreon and Espeon went up; Espeon jumped onto Ray's lap and snuggled in while Umbreon lay down at his feet. Ray brushed Espeon's fur as all three pokemons slumbered. He then continued looking up into the sky. He watched as the clouds blew by. He watched as pidgeys and pidgeottos flew in harmony with the wind. He sighed. He felt so wrong…

-- Sorcerer's Room, Viridian Palace --

"Well then Giovanni, I guest that we should stop the search for my dear grandson… He must be so lonely out there. How tragic that incident killed everyone and spared him…" Samuel Oak said to his advisor.

"I think that might be for the best, my Lord…" Giovanni replied. Giovanni then walked Samuel out of the door and closed it as the king left. He shuddered. "How much longer am I going to keep this act up?"

"Master… we come bearing good news…" A figure shrouded in shadows spoke as it appeared out of the ashes of the fireplace. Giovanni nodded. He locked the door behind him and paced around the room.

"We have slain every last Meowth and Persians throughout the land…" another figure reported.

"Well done to both of you… I have also made my move. I've found an ancient spell and casted it upon all the pokemons… Now they can never use flash! Hahahaha!" Giovanni laughed sinisterly.

"The angel of light, the angel of abundance…" chanted the first figure.

"What about the others mentioned?" asked the second figure. Giovanni stopped his laugh and turned towards the two shadow-cloaked figures.

"We'll worry about those ones later. Now we know that two of the ones said in the prophesy are out of the picture. It's very unlikely to follow the wills of the ancient ones if elements of it is not completed but we have to make sure that everything is eradicated before we can successfully take over…"

The two figures nodded. The then vanished into thin air. Giovanni returned to his deck. "I've got to find that kid; he helped me out by erasing that old hag's memory of what happened between me and his family… And that grandson of his that turned into that fur ball… Damn my current powers are limited to search for them…" He looked into his crystal ball and saw the rerun of the battle he fought against a pathetic knight, two acolytes and that sage who lived…

"Soon enough, it will all be mine… just as the ancient people predicted…" He then glared towards a huge book that was opened at a page full of odd symbols. "I will make sure the prophesy will not go down its rightful track!"

-- A mystical room, The Tree of Beginnings --

"_**They've started moving…"**_ Mew looked sadly down at the pokemons it was able to save. The Meowths and Persians looked sadly at the pink feline. It turned away from the bubble screen it was observing just now. _**"It won't be long till they try ridding of more of us…"**_

Mew then looked into another bubble screen and saw Celebi. Both had solemnly sad looks.

"_**We can't do much Mew… It has all been destined like this…"**_

"_**I know…"**_ Mew moved further and looked into another bubble screen. It smiled. _**"Even if it was fated… The future is still not decided… We'll just have to believe in them…"**_ On the screen was Ray dozing off with his pokemon on Lance's desk, Brock, Misty and Ash playing around with Gary while Snap and Richie took a stroll around the palace in search of a certain sleeping acolyte. _**"The future is still uncertain…" **_Mew chuckled as the screen was turned off.

-- Ray's shared room, Palace of Pallet --

Ray rubbed his tired eyes as he walked into the room. His legs felt quite sore from not moving much for the last few hours. He didn't budge as not to stir his pokemons from their slumber. As his eyesight cleared, he was Snap asleep on his bed.

'Now… what is he doing there?'

Even if they were not talking much to one another, and even if he did feel sorry to disturb the slumbering log, he too needed to get some shut eyes. He nudged Snap gently and tried waking the boy up. Snap was startled and leapt up out of the bed, he blushed furiously.

"I'm… I'm so sorry… I guess I fell asleep waiting for you…"

"You were waiting for me? Why is that?"

"Well… Richie and I have been searching for you the whole day after training. I just thought that you might need someone to talk to… You looked down…" Ray sighed. He didn't know his disappointment was displayed so that everyone was able to see it.

"Well…" Ray jumped into bed and rested his face into his pillow. Then he turned to face Snap. "Maybe I do need someone to talk to…" Snap lightened up.

Bboyz:  
That was is for this chapter… It looks shorter form the others (I usually type about 8 pages on Microsoft Words) but seeing the word count, it totals to the usuals… So I'll just stop here… Thanx for reading and be sure to anticipate the next chapter!

Ray:  
Bboyz been doing other stuff so he apologizes for the late update…

Bboyz:  
Owh yeah… I forgot about that… Sorry! Hehehe P I just bought 'Tsubasa: Tokyo Revelations' and it was so damn cool that I had to watch it over and over! Hahaha… Don't worry… I love you guys so I won't keep you waiting too long…

All the cast of 'The Eevee Prince':  
Yeah right.

Syaoran:  
Hey… let him enjoy tsubasa for a while… (All the cast glared at him. He called in kurogane and fye for reinforcement. The situation became awkward…)

Bboyz:  
See you next time!


	5. Wishing upon a Shooting Star

Bboyz; OMG, I've like so totally have lost tract of time and I'm so sorry for not updating the fic for so long… I can list all the excuses (oops… I mean reasons) but I won't bother with them… it'll just take up more of your time reading these writer's note and stuff…

Ray; I agree completely!

Bboyz; You've had a long break haven't you? 5 whole months… gosh…

Ray; And now I'm so raring to go! Here are the disclaimers, as usual. **Bboyz does not own pokemon and its associates.**

* * *

[previously on 'An Eevee Prince']

-- Ray's shared room, Palace of Pallet --

Ray rubbed his tired eyes as he walked into the room. His legs felt quite sore from not moving much for the last few hours. He didn't budge as not to stir his pokemons from their slumber. As his eyesight cleared, he was Snap asleep on his bed.

'Now… what is he doing there?'

Even if they were not talking much to one another, and even if he did feel sorry to disturb the slumbering log, he too needed to get some shut eyes. He nudged Snap gently and tried waking the boy up. Snap was startled and leapt up out of the bed, he blushed furiously.

"I'm… I'm so sorry… I guess I fell asleep waiting for you…"

"You were waiting for me? Why is that?"

"Well… Richie and I have been searching for you the whole day after training. I just thought that you might need someone to talk to… You looked down…" Ray sighed. He didn't know his disappointment was displayed so that everyone was able to see it.

"Well…" Ray jumped into bed and rested his face into his pillow. Then he turned to face Snap. "Maybe I do need someone to talk to…" Snap lightened up.

[back to the current chapter]

Snap jumped onto his own bed and paid full attention to what Ray needed to say. Ray sighed and started to explain why he was down.

"Did you see how Gary got hurt back there?" Ray asked Snap.

"Yeah, but pokemons do get hurt sometimes…"

"No, that training was too harsh for a beginner… I went over my head in expecting Gary to master something he doesn't even know in such a quick time…" Ray butted in before Snap could have finished his sentence, "And Gary's not just any pokemon…"

"What do you mean by that?"

'Damn… what was I thinking…'

"Well, you know… He's… He's Ash's pokemon… What would happen to Ash if Gary was badly injured?" Ray asked.

"You care for him that much eh?"

"He's someone I've kindda gotten close to this past few weeks… I can see that he feels lonely, even though we are all here for him. I can also see that he feels pressured and…"

"That why we have you here, Ray. You're a healer… You can heal Gary, can't you? And as a healer, you too have the power that can touch hearts of others… It's a natural trait of those serving for the greater good…"

"You do know how to cheer a guy up, don't you? Thanks Snap…" Ray said as he smiled at Snap and slowly closed his eyes.

"What are friends for?" Snap then pulled up his blanket and turned the other way, facing Richie's empty bed.

"Snap…"

"Yeah Ray…"

"I'm sorry… Sorry for the things I've said back then…"

"Hush now Ray… It doesn't matter…"

"Can you sleep with me tonight?" Snap was surprised by the request. He turned around to face Ray. He smiled, got up and settled into Ray's bed, "Thanks Snap…" Ray murmured as he started to doze off being in Snap's embrace.

"Good night Ray… Don't worry about a thing, you'll be fine… Gary will be fine…" Snap kissed Ray's forehead, gaining a little smile from the sleeping acolyte. Snap then waved his wand and summoned a breeze to blow out the candles on the wall. Both of them fell asleep not knowing that their conversation had been eavesdropped by a very sad little Eevee.

Gary; who was at the door eavesdropping on the whole conversation slowly walked away in silence. He felt so ashamed of himself and felt that he had let everyone down because of his failure in mastering the agility move. As he walked along the hallway, he came across a few windows with rays of the moonlight illuminating the path ahead. On one of the rays ahead he saw a silhouette of a pokemon that looked familiar to him… He raised his head up and saw Espeon perched up on a window looking straight at him with very soft, kind eyes.

" _**I see that you are troubled young one…"**_

"_**You can talk to me, Espeon?" **_

"_**Yes young one, it is called telepathy… I cannot usually communicate with humans, aside from Ray, but you are a special case now, aren't you?"**_ Gary nodded. Espeon gestured for Gary to join her on the window sill. Gary hoped up and sat next to Espeon enjoying the night's view.

Suddenly, another pokemon joined in. This time, it was Umbreon.

"_**Now, now, Gary, cheer up!" **_

"_**I never knew Umbreons could use telepathy too…"**_

"_**Nah, it's all her doings…" **_Umbreon replied. Espeon smiled at the male Umbreon in front of him who indirectly praised her psychic power.

"_**Well now little one, we sensed that you are hurt…"**_

"_**Yeah, what she said…"**_

"_**Well, I feel so ashamed that I failed my first training today… I feel sorry for everyone, they've tried so hard. Ray even planned the whole thing which was quite fruitless…"**_

"_**Don't worry about Ray… He kindda overreacted back then… Trust me; he's not at all disappointed at you…"**_

"_**Yes little one… Umbreon here is right… Ray, well… he had a few troubled past experiences… today's event might have conjured up those suppressed memories of his…"**_

Gary had a worried look on his face… He felt more responsible for bringing up something horrible for Ray to recall. He buried his face in his front legs. Umbreon looked at Espeon, who shook her head in response to what she had slipped out of herself. Then both Espeon's and Umbreon's tail brushed gently on Gary's back.

"_**Don't worry kid, its ok… He's half to blame to… Don't blame yourself too much now…"**_

"_**Yes young one… If you feel that bad about it, then you should do something to cheer them all up…"**_

"_**Like what? I'm a total failure…" **_Gary replied.

"_**Well… we can train ya kid…"**_ Umbreon suggested. Gary looked up at both the pokemons that was sitting next to him. Both smiled kindly at him. He then raised himself onto his feet with a determined look on his face. Umbreon leapt into the night sky and vanish as Espeon hoped into the rooftops. Espeon then noticed that they were spotted but then she just carried on with Gary right behind her.

-- Ash's room, Palace of Pallet --

"Gary! Gary! Where are you? Please don't run away or something…" Brock and Richie walked into the room and saw that the place was a mess.

"Ash… what happened?" Richie asked.

"I'm looking for Gary… He's nowhere to be found… I hope he didn't run away or anything… He won't survive in the wild… There's like… A whole bunch of pokemons out there…"

"I wouldn't want to worry you but there's actually more then that in the wild…" Brock added. Richie elbowed him right in the stomach, "Like I said… I wouldn't want to worry you…"

"Well, if it helps, he wasn't around where I was training… and Brock didn't see him either where he was training… So that means he's probably not out of the castle's ground…"

"He might have gone even further!" Ash panicked while Richie and Brock tried to calm him down. Ash ran around the room not knowing what else to do.

"Don't worry, Gary should be fine… He's with Ray's Espeon and Umbreon the last time I saw him…" Ash, Richie and Brock turned around to see the source of the voice. They saw Misty perching up on Ash's balcony. Ash beamed at Misty for bring such joyous news. Brock and Richie was just dumbstruck at how the girl could have appeared there.

"How did you…" Brock didn't get to finish his sentence when he suddenly saw Misty leapt off the balcony. All three boys ran up to the balcony to see where the girl had gone. They saw that Misty had her Starmie and Staryu use their water gun to catch her. The girl patted on both pokemons and made her way to her quarters. The pokemons then floated away towards the palace's pond. With a relieved sigh, Ash mad his way onto his bed and slept soundly.

Richie and Brock looked at each other. "That is one very strange maid…"

-- Ray's shared room, Palace of Pallet --

Ray snuggled up to the warmth next to him. He then woke up from his very comfortable sleep and saw that Snap was holding him in a very sweet little embrace. He smiled and kissed the sleeping boy that cuddled him to sleep last night. He was then surprised that Snap woke up.

"Sorry that I woke you up…"

"Don't worry… I'd do anything for a kiss from you…" Ray blushed at the comment and faced away from Snap. Snap chuckled at Ray and then tickled him from behind. Ray then turned around and swung both his arms around Snap's neck. Ray kissed Snap on the lips which Snap returned fondly.

"Guys… I don't need all this mushy stuff this early in the morning…" Snap and Ray broke of the kiss in shock that they were seen. They saw that Richie just got out of the bathroom wrapped in a white towel around his waist.

"Urm… I'm… I'm so…"

"Save it Ray… I was just kidding", Richie butted in and went straight to his wardrobe to get his kit on. Snap then got up and he himself made his way for the bathroom.

"Care to join me?" Snap asked. Ray turned beet red while Richie chucked a towel towards Snap.

"Hentai! Just go get yourself ready" Richie; fully clothed walked towards Ray's bed and sat next to the acolyte. "So you guys have settled your differences then?" Ray shook his head.

"He just got me when I was weak…" Ray chuckled and gave Richie a friendly punch, "But thanks for caring though…" Richie smiled. He got up and walked out of the room.

"Get yourself ready quickly and come down for breakfast. Misty would have probably prepared something good already along with Brock".

-- Dining Room, Palace of Pallet --

The morning was buzzing with people eating breakfast. Ray saw that Ash ate next to his mum, Queen Delia. She was at the head of the dining table. Next to Ash was Misty and Brock. Opposite him was Snap, Richie and himself. They had the privilege of sitting at the high end of the table since they were all Ash's closest friends. He also saw Lance nearby amongst other highly ranked officers. Ray then heard the conversation between Misty, Richie and Ash.

"So Gary hasn't returned yet?" Richie asked. Ash shook his head.

"Don't worry, Espeon and Umbreon was with him yesterday night…" Misty reminded the two.

'Espeon? Umbreon? What are those two up to with Gary?' Ray thought as he spooned some food into his mouth.

-- Viridian Castle --

A man was observing a group of men each with a few castforms with them. One by one the castforms changed form; the sky outside suddenly turned gloomy and dark. As the last castform changed, the man in charge gave out a terrifying laugh.

"Now then oh old prophecy, we are one step ahead of you… 'The princess of sunlight, the prince of moonlight'; Bah! With more castforms involved, we'll cover the whole world with dark clouds and block out the sun and the moon!" Giovanni laughed.

Giovanni then walked away from the group of men and castforms; he made his way towards his table where he had numerous books opened.

"There're still a few more verses of the prophecy we need to take care of… But that can wait a little. We've eradicated a few means of the seize of destruction but we still need to do more to make sure that there's no obstruction in our plans…" Giovanni said. Three figures appeared before him; one tall, one big and one short.

"Yes master Giovanni… Your reign of terror will soon begin…"

"Thank you Sird, Carr and Orm. My dark warriors…"

-- Ray's shared room, Palace of Pallet --

"_**Ray, we have trouble… Something's wrong with Gary!"**_

'_What is it Espeon? What's wrong? And where the heck are you?'_

"_**I'll explain later. You do have some blue stones right? Hurry!"**_

Ray stood up and took out one of his blue stones. "Teleport!" Ray disappeared in front of the watching eyes of Richie and Snap.

-- Nearby pond, Kingdom of Pallet --

A beam of light shone from nowhere and out of it Ray appeared. He looked all around and saw that all his pokemon companions were gathered around a glowing Eevee. Ray quickly ran towards them. While he ran, he sensed a presence of someone else nearby so he did the best he can not to reveal anything as the situation at hand might be found out.

'Leafeon, there's someone nearby. Try sensing it and be on guards'

'_**Alright Ray' **_Leafeon's eyes glowed and in a few moments, it was in tune with the surrounding flora. Meanwhile, Ray turned towards Espeon as he held Gary close to him. Gary glowed a bright white colour, shining and twinkling.

'Espeon… can you relay to me everything that has happened starting from when Gary left with you and Umbreon last night'

"_**I don't know how you knew, but anyway… This young one was upset after he heard your conversation with Snap. He was ashamed of himself and felt that he was at fault that he did not master agility yesterday. Then Umbreon and myself talked to this young one having in mind that we would train him.**__** So he followed us here, with the help of everyone, we trained him and Eevee. Everything was well up until now…"**_

"_**Ray… I can't sense anyone…" **_

'Whoever's there, they're good. Espeon, psywave; search the vicinity. Jolteon, use your thunderwave too. We must try to hide ourselves as best as possible. I need to contact Mew, or Celebi… But it'll be to dangerous to do it here…'

"_**You should teleport to Mew'**__**s Tree of Beginnings…" **_Flareon suggested. Vaporeon and Glaceon nodded at the idea. Ray nodded at the suggestion and motioned for Eevee to hop onto his shoulder.

'Keep your guards up guys… I still sense its presence…' Ray then dropped Gary. 'Eevee, stay close to Gary. Espeon, Leafeon and Jolteon, keep scanning. Flareon, Vaporeon and Glacion; get ready…'

Suddenly, droplets of raindrops started to pour. Ray held up his palm.

"Rain dance… Vaporeon and Glaceon, this will be a slight advantage to you. Vaporeon, use bubble and protect Flareon. Glaceon, use icy wind; pronto!" A big bubble surrounded Flareon as Glaceon summoned a gusty chilling icy wind that froze the raindrops. The bubble then burst as Flareon started to use its sunny day attack. The iced raindrop all melted and vaporized.

Ray then dashed at lightning speed into the woods and held a dagger in front of the attacker's neck. He smirked.

"Well now, congratulation on fending of my attacks, detecting my presence and actually finding me… You're no normal acolyte Ray… I'm impressed" the figure shrouded in darkness said.

"Well, you're pretty good yourself…"

"Now I am more suspicious of your presence around Ash… But I'm also a little relieved that there're more experienced people around him…"

"Well said Misty… We shall continue this talk later. At present, I have other matters to attend to…"

"Go and take care of Gary… You know that he's important to Ash…" Ray nodded, dashed straight towards the two Eevees and vanished into thin air. Misty walked out of the shadows alongside her Starmie. The pokemons relaxed and sat down with Starmie joining them. Misty walked straight to the pond and admired its lapping water. She sat down and relaxed.

-- The Tree of Beginnings --

Ray teleported into a room filled with Meowths and Persians. Ray looked a little confused but then he saw Mew floating amongst the cats. Mew motioned for Ray to follow out of the room into another room. Mew summoned a big bubble that functioned as a screen.

"Do you know what's happening to him?"

"_**I'm afraid I don't Ray… But I was aware that it happened. Celebi will be on in a few moments".**_

"_**Ray… I see that you have a problem at hand" **_Ray snorted.

"Great observation oh wanderer of time…"

"_**Glad you still possess your sense of humour"**_

"Celebi, this is not a very convenient time for us to catch up and all… Do you know what's happening to him?"

"_**Yes… but there's nothing we can do about it…"**_

"But… But… But is he suffering, or feeling any pain? I feel so responsible for everything that had happened. If I hadn't overreacted yesterday he wouldn't have had trained too hard and might not have experienced what he's going through right now… I wish I could apologize…"

"_**Ray… silence. Hear me out first". **_Ray shut himself up and focused on the image of the legendary pokemon on the bubble Mew summoned. _**"Gary is not suffering or anything… He's just reacting to something that's happening elsewhere… He is not in pain nor is he feeling anything…"**_

Ray let out a sigh of relief. "So… he's ok? Thank god. But what is happening elsewhere causing him to react like this?"

"_**Giovanni is getting closer and closer to unveiling the prophecy that he's trying to put a stop to from realising. It's an old prophecy, made by the elders back then when black magic was widely used… It's a prophecy that hinders the chaos that he is planning to bring into the world, the reign of the shadow army"**_

"And you are telling me that all this is gonna happen in the near future?"

"_**Only time will tell Ray. We can only predict what is going to happen but it can change. The future is a mystery… You must go now Ray… Go before Gary wakes up and finds out that you are in league with us… It will complicate things for the completion of your assignment"**_

"And what is my assignment again?"

"_**I will not repeat myself… Go…**__** and Ray, try letting go of the past…" **_Celebi disappeared off the bubble as it burst when Mew poked it with its tail. Mew giggled.

"_**Ray… You heard the boss… You must go… I'm also expecting Jirachi over soon so get along now…" **_Ray nodded. Eevee snuggled up to his neck while it was on his shoulder. Gary's shining was getting duller and was fading. Ray then held out a blue stone and teleported out of the Tree of Beginnings. _**"I wish you well Ray… There's still a long way to go… Your job won't be clear to you anytime soon, but the time will come…"**_

-- Interdimentional Control Centre, Interdimensional Space --

A translucent pokemon walked up to Celebi. Celebi got off its chair, floated away and greeted the pokemon. The pokemon smiled.

"_**I apologize for eavesdropping Celebi…"**_

"_**It is not a problem… You are connected to this indirectly now, aren't you?"**_

"_**I guess so… So, he hasn't let go of the past then?"**_

"_**No… I thought he had but he had actually suppressed it at the back of his mind. It had awakened once more…"**_

"_**Will it be a problem for him, Celebi?"**_

"_**It does complicate things, but in a long run, it will prove to be helpful in the end, if everything goes as far as we can predict…"**_

"_**He has no clue of what's really coming, does he?"**_

"_**No… He is not supposed to know… It will all unravel in due time"**_

"_**And may I assume that I have a purpose of being here since I still cannot move on?"**_

"_**Yes… you will know what to do when the time comes…"**_

"_**Thank you Celebi. I hope that Ray would be ok…"**_

"_**Do not worry, I know you are quite attached to him, but he will be fine… And one day, he will find the strength to move on…"**_ Celebi stood there as the translucent pokemon made its way out of the room. Celebi went back to monitoring just as it saw the wave of the pokemon's brown tail out the door.

-- Nearby Pond, Kingdom of Pallet --

Ray appeared before them holding Gary who has reverted back to normal. All the pokemon came up to them. He placed Gary down as Leafeon summoned a bed of leaf flying from various nearby trees. The pokemons huddled up around Gary as Ray made his way towards Misty.

"As we were saying… You on the other hand are one unusual maid… Care to explain?" Misty snorted and looked up towards Ray.

"I think you already figured that out…"

"You're absolutely right…"

"What gave it away?"

"Your arms and legs are a little muscular… your hair seems to be less soft compared to the other maids and your movements are a little different" Ray stated. Misty nodded.

"You've spotted most things… Which I have to praise as none of the others ever actually had any doubts about me, well… maybe until yesterday… So, care to tell me what you really are?"

"I don't think I have to… I know you don't know… You won't really find out easily… But you can have my words that I'm on your side. I am not sent here by any other kingdom… I am here to assist if anything happen…"

"So what is going to happen?"

"I have no idea… But you must have at least noticed the presence of Absol these past few days…"

"Indeed I have Ray. That was why I became a little suspicious of you. But somehow, I have faith in you Ray… How about Gary? Is he alright?"

"He's fine… He might go through this kind of stuff again in the future… That's why he needs to get stronger quicker… So that he'd be able to stay conscious and be able to control himself…"

"You have my help then. Let's train here again tomorrow…"

"Thank you misty… For a thief, you're the last thing I would expect around Ash"

"We need thieves so that we can actually sense other thieves and assassins around. Our thief guild was founded by the late king, to keep other thieves out of pallet".

"But I sense there's more to you than just that…"

"That you have to wait till tomorrow to find out Ray… You might be sharp, but something is just so secretive that none will suspect it until they are told of it…" With that, misty vanished with the wind along with Starmie.

'Espeon, Umbreon… Can I leave Gary to you two?' Both the pokemons nodded. Eevee hopped onto Ray. 'Do you guys want to come along?' All the other pokemons joined in. They huddled up around Ray.

"Teleport!"

-- Ash's Room, Palace of Pallet --

Ash waited at the balcony for Gary. He kept observing the palace's ground for any signs of his Eevee. He has been quite down the whole morning and afternoon. It's already late evening but Gary's still nowhere to be found. Richie and Brock were talking about their training while Snap was levitating a few stuff of the floor to kill some time. Suddenly, Misty walked in.

"Are there any news on Gary yet Misty?" Misty sighed. She wanted to tell him everything but couldn't.

"As I said before Ash, Gary was last seen with Ray's Espeon and Umbreon so they would be alright. Those two seemed as though they are very experienced pokemons… And their loyalty to Ray must have been very great that made them evolve that way… So relax"

"But I haven't seen ray all day either…"

"He was with us this morning till early afternoon when he suddenly disappeared" Richie said. Snap nodded.

"What if they've ran away with Gary? I haven't seen any of his pokemons either… No, they had run away…"

"Or maybe abducted…" Brock suggested. They all looked Snap's way aside from the worried Ash. Everyone smirked at Snap.

"Hey, I have not done anything that sinister to Ray!" Snap blurted out. Everyone laughed which made Snap blush. Ash was cheered up a little but he was still worried about Gary.

On queue, Ray entered the room. Ash rushed towards Ray and held him in a tight grip. Everyone was shocked. Ash looked at Eevee and at once knew that it was not Gary.

"Where have you been? And where's Gary?"

"Ash, be rational…" Misty let out.

"Ash… do you think this guy would actually try to hurt you?" Snap asked. Richie and Brock laughed a little at the statement which earned them both a deathly glare from Snap. Ash let go of Ray.

"I guess not…" Ash then hugged Ray and cried into his shoulder. Ray hugged him back and patted his shoulder. Richie and Brock glanced at Snap and saw the look of jealousy in his eyes, but they knew it was a friendly one, well, they hoped it was. Misty just smiled.

"Don't worry Ash… He'll be back with Umbreon and Espeon. I went to see them before. Seems like Gary decided to train without our knowledge…" Ray explained.

"But I can't… I can't bare the feeling of losing him Ray…"

"You haven't lost him Ash… He's just trying to get stronger… For you; so he'd be able to be with you always… He wants to feel that he was able to protect you as well…"

"Thanks for everything Ray… I'm sorry I've ever doubted you…" Ash let go of Ray and with a saddened expression, he apologized to Ray. Ray smiled and scratched the back of his head.

"It's not a problem… Anyway, I'm still new here so I understand…"

"No… it should never be that way Ray" Ash said and smiled. He hugged Ray once again and this time, with a smile. Richie and Brock joined in from behind.

"Yeah dude, you're part of the family already from day one!" Brock said.

"And we all love you!" Richie said. He looked at Snap and stuck out his tongue. Snap had a look of disbelieve on his face, crossed his arms and turned the other way. Richie and Brock laughed.

"Gosh, thanks guys. Thanks Rich, Brock". They all felt a little wiggling between them. They all broke the hug as Eevee leapt out for air. They all laughed. Misty went up to Snap and cheered him up. They all joked around some more about Ray and Snap which earned both said parties blushing faces.

Suddenly, three figures leapt onto the balcony. Ash leapt for joy. Espeon, Umbreon and Gary made their entrance. Gary with his improved speed ran up to Ash and jumped into his embrace. Sakura petals danced all around them as the mood turned sweet.

Ray and Misty both looked at Leafeon and Espeon who both chuckled. Ray sweat dropped as Misty sighed the whole thing off. Snap, Richie and Brock just looked in amazement. Ash and Gary snuggled up to each other.

"I miss you so much Gary! Don't leave me ever again!" Ash said as he played around with Gary's nose. Gary smiled as he wagged his tail.

"_**Gosh, I've mastered the tail wagging! Don't worry Ash, I'm stronger now! I miss you too and I did it all for you…"**_ Gary then looked at Ray who just winked and gave him a thumb up. Gary wagged his tail even further and cuddled even more into Ash's embrace. Espeon and Umbreon joined Eevee at the foot of Ash's bed as Leafeon made its way back into the gardens.

"_**Thank you guys…" **_Gary said at Espeon, Umbreon and Eevee.

"_**It wasn't a problem young one…" **_

"_**Yeah kid, there's more to come. Expect it from Ray since he now knows you're a lot stronger…"**_

"_**Yeah Gary… It's been fun training with you. I'm looking forward to our next training session"**_

"_**There'll be more training? As long as I'll become stronger and be able to make Ashy-boy here happy!" **_

"I think we should let them be for a while…" Snap whispered to Ray and pulled him outside. Richie, Brock and Misty saw this and they themselves left to get on with some other stuff. Espeon, Umbreon and Eevee also left the room via the balcony. Outside the room, Brock dragged Snap away from Ray who was a little relieved.

"Hey Ash, may I borrow your Vaporeon and Glaceon?" Misty asked. Ray nodded.

"You know where to find them, don't you?" Misty nodded and headed off. Richie then was left all alone with Ray.

"Hey Ray…"

"Yeah…"

"If you're not busy or anything, mind hanging out with me for a while…"

"Yeah, that'll be great"

"Why don't you bring your pokemons along?" Ray nodded.

-- Archery Training Ground, Kingdom of Pallet --

Richie and Ray walked side by side as Richie gave Ray a tour of the Archery Guild of Pallet. Ray looked in awe as he walked around with his pokemons along his side.

"Here's where I usually train…" Richie said. Ray saw that Richie had his bow and arrows oh his back and told him to give him a little demo of how he would usually train. "You've seen my arrow shower right?" Ray shrugged and still insisted that Richie train.

Richie then took his bow and arrow and started training.

"Double strafe!" Richie shouted out as his arrows became faster and made quite and impact where it was shot. Ray clapped his hands. "You ain't seen anything yet! Arrow shower!" Richie shot an arrow upwards. Then he ran into the ring, just below where his arrow is going to land. The arrows multiplied as it did when he was training Gary the first time. The arrows were nearing Richie.

"Arrow repel!" Richie shouted. Richie became speedier while he dodged multiple arrows. He was also able to repel arrows with his hands and kicks. A few arrows would have landed on his head but they were also repelled.

"That is so wickedly cool man!" Ray shouted as he gave a standing ovation. Richie gave a little bow and laughed.

"Well, that would be very helpful if my senses were better…"

"I know, but you were great enough then!" Ray then had an idea and whispered something to Flareon. Flareon ran up towards Richie and snuggled up to the guy as he picked it up. Rishie gave Ray a confused look and Ray smiled. "Flareon would give you a little hand from now on…"

"How?"

"Don't worry, she'll show you". Richie then tried another arrow shower. Flareon then used it's flamethrower as the arrow multiplied. The arrow shower became a fire rain. Richie looked well amazed. Ray then instructed all his pokemons to use their sand attack to extinguish the fire.

"Thank Ray. That looked so cool. And it'll be something new and unique I can share with the guild! You're the best!" Richie gave Ray a hug. Then they parted. Ray smiled. "Let's go back… Snap's gonna kill me if he knew I abducted you for such a long time…"

"Don't worry; you have me to mourn over you…" Ray wicked. They both laughed as they both imagined how Snap would be furious.

-- Ray's shared room, Palace of Pallet --

Snap was chasing both Richie and Ray around the room when Brock and Misty slammed the door as the came in. The door creaked open a little after it was slammed. Snap, Richie and Ray froze.

"What's with the door slamming Misty?"

"Well… It would get you three kids to stop running around making a mess of your own room. And I'm glad it worked!" Snapped then hopped at the currently immobile Ray and pinned him onto the bed.

"Snap… not right now…" Ray pleaded. Misty, Brock and Richie just looked in amazement at Snap's determination.

"Who cares, they know already" Snap gave a passionate kiss to Ray who could not fight back and just returned it passionately as well. Misty, Richie and Brock all sweat dropped and fell.

"Talk about a sudden change of heart…" Richie said. They laughed. Ray just blushed as Snap let him go and went to pound Richie. Ray looked at Misty who both knew what each one of them sensed. Misty just shrugged and signalled Ray to settle it. Ray got up and opened the door, finding a peeping tom shocked to be found out.

"Hey Ash, want to join in the fun?" Ray asked. Ash hesitantly nodded as he and Gary made their way in. Ray's Eevee quickly went up to Gary and they both ran around the room, and then played around on the balcony. Brock pushed Ash towards Ray who both ended up hugging each other and tripped, falling onto the bed.

"What would you do now Snap?" Richie asked. Snap just crossed his arms and silenced himself. Ray and Ash laughed and both got up and sat on the bed. They all carried on teasing Snap and then played around, joked around and hanged out.

-- Ash's Room, Palace of Pallet --

"Hey Gary…" Gary looked up as Ash was speaking to him. "What do you think of Snap and Ray? They look cute together, don't they?" Ash asked.

"_**Yeah, they do…" **_Gary replied.

"I've always dreamt that I want to be as happy as them… But I'm a prince… I'm destined to be married to a princess… and yeah, you know the story right… I've told you before. I am the only heir to the thrown, so it's kindda like my responsibility to give up what I desire…"

"_**That's so sad Ash… I'm in the same situation but before I get to take the responsibility, I want to be with you first Ash… I like you… You're so cute, kind, loving…"**_

"But even if those things never happened, I still have you on my side eh, Gary?" Gary nodded as Ash picked him up. Gary then licked Ash on the face. "Now Gary, don't do too much of that… you don't want me getting wet before bed now, would you?"

"_**The hell I would! Hahaha… I've decided! I love you Ashy-boy! I too want to stay with you by your side… Since Gramps didn't remember what became of me, I could just stay here with you, right?"**_

"Yeah, we'll always be together! You and I! Ash and Gary!" Then they both looked up into the starry sky. Suddenly, a shooting start shot across the sky, "Hey Gary, A shooting star! I want to make a wish…"

'Owh star light, start bright, please grant my wish tonight… I wish for me and Gary to be together… But I also wish that someone would care for me, a lover… another guy… does that count as two wishes? Owh well… please grant m wish…'

-- Tree of Beginnings --

"_**Jirachi, you made it…"**_

"_**Sorry I was late… I felt like there was a wish made when someone saw me flying through the sky… lemme check… Yeah, there's two wishes here…"**_

"_**May I see?"**_

"_**Sure…"**_

"_**Owh, it's made by Prince Ash… two separate wishes but wanting the same thing… hurm…"**_

"_**What do you mean Mew?"**_

"_**Well, Gary's Ash's Eevee, who really isn't an Eevee but got turn into one by a curse. I think Gary's fallen for our kind prince…"**_

"_**So that'll make my granting even easier, right?"**_

"_**I guess, but we have ancient powers playing here… I don't think your granting power would be able to work instantly…"**_

"_**But eventually it will, or at least it will lift of a little of the curse…"**_

"_**You're right Jirachi… Do your thing!"**_

"_**Is it just a coincidence that Celebi asked me to come here and my getting this wish that you needed to explain the situation to me?"**_

"_**Nah… I think its all hitsuzen… It was all fated…" **_

"_**Cool… now; let's get to work then Mew"**_

* * *

Bboyz; That's all for now… I can't believe how tiring typing a chapter gets… That's for leaving it for a long time! My bad…

Ray; But you have to admit you did enjoy it, right?

Bboyz; Yeah, it was fun… Expect another chapter somewhere just after the New Year! I've gottn back into the mood of typing up fan fics! And I have a feeling I won't keep you guys hanging for so long because I kindda love this fic! Hehehe…

Gary; _**You've only decided that after 5 chapters?**_

Bboyz; Yeah, but hey… it's still is good right? :P Well, R&R guys… your comments are appreciated! And look forward to the next chapter… **A Few Steps Closer…** Closer to what? Hahaha… you'll just have to find out!

Ray; Here's a few cliff hangers for you to ponder upon… What past was Celebi talking about? Who's the translucent pokemon and what does it have to do with Ray? Will Jirachi be able to grant Ash's wish so easily? Find out… in the next chapters! (owh no… Bboyz does not give out the plots to the muse… that is so wrong, I know…)


	6. One Step Closer

Bboyz: (runs from his piles of notes…) GOSH! Studying is so damn boring… LoL… I just ran away from revising for my upcoming exam (1 damn week to go and I just started yesterday! lol) cos I wanted to type up another chapter for this fic…

Ray: Thank God for that… make it quick… then go back to those notes…

Bboyz: You're supposed to be the muse… don't command me!

Ray: I'll do what I want to do mister author… and now I feel like doing the disclaimers… **Bboyz does not own Pokemon or anything that is associated with it! He's just a student typing up fanfics to escape the reality that's bugging him with revisions, notes, exams… **

Bboyz: (cuts Ray in the middle of his long-winded speech of sorts…) Ok… After this I'll be thinking twice before coming up with more muses… Enjoy the chapter!

* * *

-- Nearby Pond, Kingdom of Pallet --

Misty sat next to the edge of the pond where water lapped serenely as time passes. She was relaxing as dawn approaches. In the pond, Glaceon and Vaporeon were playing around with a few of Misty's pokemon. Misty rose from her sitting position. She smiled at the pokemons.

"Guys… I'll be needing your help today…" Misty said. Glaceon and Vaporeon nodded, "Gary needs more training".

"You've already planned something for him?" The voice came from a cloaked figure from atop a tree near Misty. Misty felt that her guards were down; she should have detected the presence if it was that near to her. She pulled a few daggers from her apron's pocket and threw it straight towards the speaking figure.

"Hey, hey… Am I the one being trained?" The figure said as it jumped down towards the daggers and dodged them while still being in the air. Then he disappeared and reappeared behind Misty.

"Did you have to hide your presence around me, Ray?"

"Just wanted to test ya… And I was just checking on Vaporeon and Glaceon here…"

"I have no idea how you crawled out of Snap's grasp but I don't want to find out…" Ray quickly shook off his blush and disappeared into the air.

"That acolyte is hiding something…"

-- Ash's Room, Palace of Pallet --

Ray jumped from the rooftops onto Ash's balcony. The balcony door was wide open.

'This is too easy…' Ray thought. 'And I though I needed to teleport inside'. Ray then walked into the room to find Ash cuddling next to another guy. Someone that seemed so familiar to him… Like he knew him from somewhere before… Ray started to storm around in his memory where he saw the person from. Then it hit him like a brick on the head.

"Gary!" Ray shouted. The figure Ray called Gary started to move a little, yawned and started to glow. The boy then turned back into an Eevee. Ray gasped at the unexpected transformation.

"_**Yap Ray… What are you doing waking me up this early?**__**" **_Gary asked. Ray rubbed his eyes… Did what he thinks he saw just happened in front of his eyes? Again, he rubbed both his eyes. Gary hopped off the bed and walked towards Ray and gave him a very soft headbutt.

"What was that for?" Ray murmured in pain as he held his stomach. "That's a god headbutt… I quessed you learnt well from Jolteon"

"_**What can I say; I'm a quick learner… And that was only 10% Ray… You should be able to handle more!" **_Gary said as he stuck out his tongue.

"You know, that looked very cute considering you're an Eevee…" Gary then wagged his tail. They were both startled when they heard noise coming from the direction of the bed. Ash stirred a little in his sleep and then rested back in place.

"_**So, why are you here this early?"**_

"Owh… just wanted to wish you luck with your training today. Misty's handling it so I can't give you any heads up before you go through it. I'll come back later to wake that sleepy head". Ray then walked towards the balcony and dashed off it. Gary smiled as he wandered how Ray managed all those physically challenging moves he does. Gary then walked back up to the bed and jumped onto it landing near Ash's face. Gary smiled as he saw how sweet Ash was when he was sleeping soundly. Gary didn't have the heart to wake the guy up so he just went up to cuddle with his prince.

-- Ray's shared room, Kingdom of Pallet --

"Hey Ray, you're up early… And how the heck…"

"…did I get away from Snap? Try imagining it…" Ray cuts Richie from finishing his question. Richie made an expression of barfing. Ray laughed.

"So, did you really mean it yesterday that Flareon could stay with me for a while?"

"Yeah, sure… It beats not doing much in the kitchen with the cooks". Richie smiled. Snap then stirred in his sleep, hugging a pillow and caressing it before he nodded back into his deep sleep. Then Brock entered the room. Brock looked shocked at Ray and was going to ask but Ray cuts him off before the question was verbalized.

"Well, anyway… Let's head down for breakfast…" Brock said.

"Aren't we a little early for breakfast?" Richie asked. Ray nodded.

"Well, it's a direct order from Misty…"

"What is she up to now…" Richie sighed.

"Owh yeah Ray, Misty asked you to wake Ash up too…" Brock reminded. Ray nodded and made his way out of the room first.

-- Ash's Room, Palace of Pallet --

Ash shook his head at the sight he was seeing. He was wearing a mask over his eyes and was dressed in casual suit-like attire. All around him were people he could make our but everyone was, like him, wearing masks over their eyes. Suddenly, a guy walked up to him.

'OMG, you are so hot...' Ash thought as the guy made his way closer to Ash. The guy in front of Ash was hotness itself. He had auburn hair and emerald green eyes. His skin was a little tanned but not too tanned. He was perfection in Ash's eyes.

"Hey… let's have a walk and chat…" The guy said. Ash nodded. Both of them walked around what Ash could make out as a hall… They talked quite a lot from where they were both from, what they felt about the event and much more. Then a song came up.

"Hey, would you care to dance with me?" The guy asked. Ash gladly accepted and they made their way towards the middle of the crowd. As the music progressed, Ash felt his body moved by itself without him thinking of it…

"Wow… what was that?"

"I guess the music speaks to me…"

"Then I guess we don't have a language barrier"

Ash danced the tango with the man of his dreams. It would have been better if one of them wore a dress but hey, as long as it still looks like the tango. Ash wished that the dance could go forever as he felt that this was the happiest moment in his life. The guy lowered Ash and kissed him of the lips. The surrounding people suddenly disappeared leaving the couple alone. As they broke the kiss, Ash saw that the guy was looking into his eyes.

"That… That was a great dance…"

"Yeah, you're a great dance partner Ash. And may I say that I've fallen for you ever since I laid my eyes upon you…" Ash blushed.

"You're not half bad yourself…"

"I love you…"

"I love you too… but who are you? Do I know you?"

"You do…"

"What's your name?" Suddenly, the clock chimed and brought back the crowd from nothingness as they clapped to the dancing duo. The guy suddenly pulled Ash back onto his feet.

"I have to go Ash…"

"Don't tell me you're one other those cinderellas… You're a guy!"

"But I still must go… I love you…" With those last words, the guy faded into nothingness as well as everything around Ash, leaving him in pitch darkness. He also started to fade away into the darkness. Tears rolled down his cheeks.

"Why must it all end just like that…"

"WHAT?!?!?!" Ash shouted as he woke up from his dreams… He looked around and saw that he was in his room. He looked on his bed and found Gary perching up on his pillow, smiling up to him. Ash felt his cheek and found that it was wet.

"Gary… did you?" Gary nodded with a big grin on his face. Ash chuckled, picked Gary up and cuddled him. He then felt something familiar about Gary… something he just felt… But then he shook it off. Whatever that happened just now, it couldn't have anything to do with the dream he just had.

"ASH!" Ray shouted as he slammed the door open. "Oh, you're already awake… That's easy then… Hey, Misty ask us to come down early for breakfast…" And without another word, Ray disappeared back from the door he entered in.

"He's weird…" Ash said to Gary. Gary nodded.

"_**Yeah… totally…"**_

-- Nearby Pond, Kingdom of Pallet --

"I would like to ask where he is, but I'd just be nosey", Misty said to Ray. Ray shrugged, implying that he doesn't know what's up with Snap waking up early.

"He probably had a rough night" Richie teased. Ray blushed.

"We did not do anything… much" Ray replied. Richie and Brock laughed. Misty sighed. Misty gave her signal towards Glaceon and Vaporeon who both dove into the pond. Instantly, a few mini icebergs appeared. It glistened in the sunlight.

"Ok… Gary, we're gonna test your agility and ability to dodge… It's won't be too easy as you'll be running on ice…" Misty explained. Gary gulped. Ash set Gary down onto the ground and he walked towards the icebergs.

"I think I see why Galceon's needed… And I'm guessing Vaporeon's…" Ray was cut short by Misty.

"Leave it as a surprise, will you?" Ray nodded.

"But I think we can also get some help from Umbreon and Espeon… Wait, all of them can help…"

"You're picking up fast… But I'll just use water for now since it will probably result in less damage done from other attacks…"

Gary was hopping onto of the nearest iceberg to the shore. Ray suggested for his Eevee to join in as well. Eevee jumped of his shoulder and ran up to Gary. Misty motioned for Ray and Ash to guide their pokemons.

"Alright… Agility!" Ray and Ash shouted as they pointed towards the other side of the pond. Both Gary and Eevee started to run. Vaporeon, Starmie, Staryu and Goldeen started to shoot water guns at both Eevees who tried dodging as best as they can while trying not to slip on the icebergs.

"They're quite good…" Misty commented and Ray nodded. Ash was anxious and nervous for Gary and hoped that he could do his best. Suddenly, Gary got shot by a water gun from Goldeen and flew straight off the iceberg.

"Eevee, use baton pass and then headbutt!" Ray shouted. Eevee did as it was commanded. Eevee and Gary changed places. Gary fell onto the iceberg with a thud and was recovering from his shock meanwhile Eevee was heading straight into the pond but its hind legs got a grip of something and used headbutt, propelling itself forwards onto the iceberg.

"Nice save Ray" Brock and Richie praised. Ray patted Ash on the back.

"Don't worry, I won't let Gary worry you…" Ray said as he winked. Ash smiled.

"Thanks so much Ray… My heart was jumping back then…" And then, the training continued. After that little incident, both Eevees worked more like a team as they used their agility and dodged all the attacks. Everyone was in awe looking at the pair racing up to the other end of the pond. As both Eevees reached the other side of the pond, they hopped around and cheered.

"I don't know why you are celebrating… You're only halfway done. You have to make your way back over to this side of the pond". Both Eevee's jaws dropped. Misty smirked evilly. Ray and Ash sighed as Brock and Richie just looked on. Misty motioned for Richie to join them.

"What's this all about?" Richie asked.

"Try using your Arrow Shower too this time. It'll make everything a lot more interesting", Misty said.

"Try using what we came up with yesterday Rich, it'll make everything a lot more interesting…"

"Are you sure? Will they be able to handle it?" Richie asked. Ray nodded.

"We're situated around water…" Misty, Brock and Ash was wandering what they were talking about. Richie nodded and called Flareon to join them.

"Alright Glaceon, you need to be alert too!" Ray shouted which started Glaceon who was swimming on it's back; slowly snoozing off. "Eevee, once again, agility!"

"You too Gary!" Ash called out. Both Eevees started to sprint. Richie held up his bow and shot an arrow right above the pond. Flareon then let out a flamethrower. The single arrow burnt and then multiplied. One by one they fell towards the Eevees and both brown pokemons dodged each one. The arrows punched holes in the icebergs. Glaceon blew onto the icebergs, making them whole again. Some water guns also extinguished the arrows. The site was spectacular. However, both Eevees made it to the end without any problem.

"Congratulations guys!" Misty cheered. Ash and Ray promptly hugged their Eevees as they hopped onto both guys. Brock praised Richie on the firework display and patted Flareon. Misty thanked all the pokemons that helped with the training. Vaporeon, Glaceon, Staryu and Starmie hopped out of the water and surround them all. Ray beamed at how much his pokemons have blended into the group and made themselves at home.

"Hey, let's head back… it's past noon already…" Ash suggested. They all nodded. Brock and Richie went straight to training with their guilds after lunch while Ray stayed with Ash and Gary in his room.

-- Ash's room, Palace of Pallet --

"Hey Ray… I had this weird dream last night…"

"Really? Weird as in good or bad?" Ash shrugged.

"Well, I dreamt I was dancing around with this guy. He was perfection! But I never got his name; he said that he loved me and them everything disappeared…"

"Wow… cool dream…"

"But I want to meet that guy. I wish he was here for me…"

"Keep on dreaming and believing in your dream. One day it will turn out just the way you wished it to be…" Ray gave a little advice to Ash. Ash nodded.

"Yeah, I hope you're right" Gary nodded too. Then Espeon jumped into the room from the balcony. She went up to Ray and sat in his lap. Eevee came round from behind Ray and gave Espeon a little headbutt. Espeon just purred and went back to relaxing. Eevee got bored of Espeon and gave Gary a headbutt which was returned. They both went to play together. Ray and Ash looked on while Espeon started snoozing.

"They look cute playing together…" Ash said.

"Yeah, like they don't have a care in the world…"

"Hey! What's been happening?" asked someone as he yawned when he entered the room.

"Good morning Snap!" Ash joked.

"Hey! Salute to you bro! And morning to you sweetheart…" Snap said as he kissed Ray on the cheek. Ray pushed him away.

"Stop it you…" Suddenly, Snap froze. Ash looked weird and then noticed that Gary was glowing.

"What's happening Ray?" Ray looked confused.

"Espeon, use hypnosis" Espeon jumped up from where she was snoozing and used hypnosis on Ash. Ash fell straight to sleep. "Espeon, you stay here and don't let him wake up until I return… I'll tell Umbreon to guard outside the door while Jolteon can guard the balcony. Try not to act too suspicious if anyone does happen to come".

Ray grabbed hold of both Gary and Snap while motioning for Eevee to climb onto his shoulder. "Teleport!"

From afar, Misty was observing from the rooftops. Misty sighed.

"What are you hiding Ray…" She then disappeared into thin air followed swiftly by Starmie.

-- The Tree of Beginnings --

"Mew… I need to talk to Celebi and I need to talk to her now!" Ray said as he appeared in one of the many rooms that were in the Tree of Beginnings. Mew who saw that Ray was holding a glowing Gary and a frozen human being; nodded and summoned up a bubble. Mew knew it was important as Ray would not bring anyone to the tree without her consent first. The bubble started to transmit images and then Celebi popped up.

"**_Ray… first you need to calm down… And then I can start explaining…" _**Ray nodded and settled both Gary and Snap down. He and Eevee then went up to the screen.

"So, what's up with those two?"

"_**Well… somehow very recently Ash had made a wish upon the wishing star pokemon, Jirachi. Jirachi with its good will and manner tried to grant that wish…"**_

"Which still does not explain anything really…"

"_**Well, Ash wished for someone to be by his side… Someone he could love and be with him… And he also wished for Gary to be with him, forever… You know… Can you see the pattern?"**_

"A little…"

"_**Well… Both of Ash'**__**s wishes were asking for the same thing…"**_ Mew added.

"_**Yes, but Jirachi's powers are limited. It could no withstand the power of the curse… So it needed to borrow some magical power that you friend here had. That explains why he was sleeping more than he was this morning as you might have seen Gary in his human form. And now Gary too was more adapted to his pokemon figure **__**which means that he's a few step closer to returning to his human form…"**_

"Which is so confusing but I'll play along for now…"

"_**It was thought that people will never come to terms with living their life as a pokemon. That was the effect of both the curse and the counter spell that hit Gary. As Gary accepts his fate, he will turn back into his original form and with that, Ash's wish will be granted…" **_

"Ok… so the time for Gary's transformation back is nearing?"

"_**Yes, very soon to be exact"**_

"Ok, I need to go then…"

"_**Good Luck with the things to come Ray…"**_ Ray nodded. Then he walked away and grabbed both Gary and Snap.

"Thanx Mew" Ray said as he teleported back.

-- Ash's room, Palace of Pallet --

"Hey, so we got to meet again Ash…" a voice said. Ash opened his eyes and saw the guy he danced with before in his prior dream was in front of him. They were both in their previous costumes as the hall around them started to appear slowly. Ash smiled as the guy offered his hand. Ash accepted it and they both started to dance again.

_I know you…  
__I walked with you once upon a dream…_

_I know you…  
__The gleam in your eyes is so familiar, a gleam…_

_I know it's true…  
__That visions are seldom all they seem…_

_But if I know you…  
__I know what you'll do…  
__You'll love me at once…  
__The way you did, once upon a dream…_

_Once upon a time…  
__I dreamed that we'd be together in love forever…  
__Once upon a night…  
__I was wishing for a never, a never ending…_

_Once upon a time,  
__Once upon a night,  
__Once upon a wish,  
__Once upon a dream…_

_I know you…  
__I danced with you once upon a night…_

_There we were…  
__Wishing this dance would last forever all time…_

_I hope it's true…  
__This vision is more than what it seems…_

_Cause if dreams come true…  
__I know what we'll do…  
__We'll dance once again…  
__The way we did then, once upon a dream…_

_Once upon a time…  
__I dreamed that we'd be together in love forever…  
__Once upon a night…  
__I was wishing for a never, a never ending…_

_Once upon a time,  
__Once upon a night,  
__Once upon a wish,  
__Once upon a dream…_

Ash then snapped back into reality and saw that Snap was sleeping on his bed next to him with Gary dozing off on top of him. He saw that Ray was with his Eevee at the balcony. Espeon was nowhere to be found.

"Hey Ray… Did I doze off?" Ash asked. Ray nodded.

"Maybe you're just tired from today's training just like Gary is. It was quite intense… Even I was on the edge of my feet throughout the training. And yeah, I've never been that excited in ages… So long ago…" Ray faded into lost memories as he dazed. Eevee licked Ray bringing him back into reality.

"Hey Ray, what's with him?"

"Snap? Truthfully, I don't know how to explain… Maybe he's tired… You know… he is in tune with nature… Maybe the weather's changing or something… Or maybe he's been using too much magic recently making him a little tired…" Ash accepted Ray's hypothesis without question as he had something to tell Ray.

"Ray! I had that dream again… This time I wasn't really in any urge to ask for his name… I know tat we'll meet again… We'll dance again… And he'll love me forever…"

Ray smiled. "Wow… That sounds like a real fairytale…"

"Yeah, but I'm taking your advise and going to wish for it to materialize!" Ash said excitedly.

"Hey Ash, may I leave this hump of lump here with you? I want to leave you to rest since you might still be tired. Gary's quite drowsy too from the looks of things…" Ray said. Ash nodded, took Gary in his arms, cuddled him and lay back onto his bed. Ash and Eevee made their departure through the balcony.

As Ray hopped onto the rooftops making his way to the tower where Lance's office resides, he noticed a presence somewhere near him. He suddenly felt that something was coming towards him. He dodged it and then was shocked when Misty stopped him off his track.

"Mister Acolyte, you have some explaining to do!"

* * *

Bboyz: I'm so sorry that this chapter is shorter and that I haven't had the chance to read through it… Need to rush off since I need to catch up with my revision…

Ray: Aww… I wanted more of me…

Bboyz: Anyway… next chapter would probably be somewhere after the 22nd when my exam ends! Yay! Can't wait till then! Urm… and the next chapter would probably be called **'Once Upon a Dream'**. Bubbye now…


	7. Once Upon a Dream

Bboyz: Sorry for not updating in a while… I could come up with a whole new other fanfic to explain why I've been… lazy! Hahaha… So please accept my upmost apologies!

Ray: Sorry doesn't cure all the pain that was endured being on hiatus you know!

Bboyz: Whoever said we were on hiatus?

Ray: It felt like it! I was frozen in mid air for nearly a month for crying out loud!

Bboyz: Yeah… Ok, well, let's get back to the fic shall we…

* * *

[Previously on The Eevee Prince…]

As Ray hopped onto the rooftops making his way to the tower where Lance's office resides, he noticed a presence somewhere near him. He suddenly felt that something was coming towards him. He dodged it and then was shocked when Misty stopped him off his track.

"Mister Acolyte, you have some explaining to do!"

[And so the tale continues…]

Ray quickly grabbed Eevee tightly and teleported somewhere near; onto one of the rooftops. He turned to face Misty and Starmie. Misty hopped herself onto a nearby rooftop as well. Both eyes were glaring at each other as if they were sworn enemies. Ray crossed his arms in front of his chest and turned to face away.

"Who are you to boss me around?"

"I'm one of Ash's guards and I demand answers to verify that he is not in harm's way!"

"So there are more of you guys around eh? That explains why sometimes I feel like I'm being watched…" Ray held up one of his arms as though he was giving a signal. Misty stood her ground and prepared for whatever was coming her way. Then suddenly two figures zoomed in from nowhere to stand their ground on either side of Ray. Espeon and Umbreon were ready to move.

"What are you gonna do Ray?"

"Don't worry Misty, I won't harm you if I didn't have to" Ray smirked. Ray pulled down his arm by his side and closed his eyes. "You two know what to do… Go!" Both Espeon and Umbreon dashed onto various rooftops and sent out purple and black waves around. Yelps and cries were heard as these waves hit their unseen targets. Both pokemons dashed back towards Ray. Ray bent down to hug and pat Umbreon and Espeon.

"How did you know their locations? What did you do to them?"

"Don't worry Misty… Your assassin guard friends were just knocked out for a few minutes by these lovelies. Now it's just you and me…"

"What do you have in mind?"

"Let's have a battle… You win; you get your answers… On the other hand, if I win, you'll just have to trust me and maybe you'll get the answers you were looking for. Either way, both proves advantageous to you…"

"Why should I comply with your suggestions?"

"Just because you don't have any other options…" Misty knew it so she had to go along with Ray's proposals. She sighed and nodded. Ray beamed.

"Alright, it'll be a one-on-one battle here on the rooftops… Ray signalled Espeon whose eyes glowed purple. In a matter of seconds, another figure was hopping and dashing its way towards Ray. As it stopped in front of Ray, Misty saw that Ray had summoned his Flareon.

"You do know that I mainly use water pokemons?"

"I do Misty, but I will still use my Flareon here…" Ray said with the air of confidence. Misty knew that Ray had something up his sleeves but she also knew she had quite the upper hand in this battle.

"I'll just get this done quickly… Go Starmie"

"You know what to do Flareon. Agility! Dodge all the water… And use flamethrower if you need to" Both Starmie and Flareon dashed towards each other. Starmie started to shoot water guns towards Flareon who speeded up and dodge every shot. Ray patted Espeon whose eyes glowed purple which for a second illuminated Flareon. Misty was anxious at what Ray was planning.

"It is a one-on-one isn't it Ray?"

"Yeah, I just needed Espeon to relay some tunes to Flareon to get it psyched up for the battle. We just love music…" As Flareon dodged around Starmie and used flamethrower on a few occasions, her tail brightened up. Misty looked confused.

"What's happening here…" Misty wandered.

"Just wait and see… Flareon, let's go for the final blow… use quick attack and then lightning tail!" Misty gasped.

"Lightning tail? I've never heard of something like that… and moreover, coming from a fire typed Flareon…"

"We're just awesome, that's all there is to it…" Flareon ran towards Starmie and rammed into it. Then Flareon turned around and smacked its tail onto Starmie giving the pokemon a shock to remember. Flareon's eyes then lit up fiercely. "Go on Flareon… Blast Burn!" Flareon lit up with fire all around it as the attack escaped its mouth and blew Starmie away.

"Starmie… Are you ok?"

"Well, I win this round… Now to claim my prize…"

"What do you want?"

"Tell your friends that I am no one suspicious; get them not to monitor me. Don't worry; you'll get the answers to your questions when I am ready to give them. It was a great battle Misty; you raised your Starmie well. Flareon doesn't get fired up to use Blast Burn often… but we seldom have battles anyway… Good job Flareon!" Ray shouted which cheered up Flareon making it hop towards Ray and ended up in one of his cuddles.

"You know that you're still not off the hook but I will go along with your request as long as you tell me how your Flareon was able to use an electric move"

"Owh… you really want to know? Well… remember when Flareon glowed purple for a mere second? Well, Espeon was channelling dance music towards it. My pokemons and I… we dance for fun sometimes and well, dancing gives a boost to them emotionally and also physically. The fur on Flareon's tail was able to rub against each other producing friction and then electricity charged. It was then boosted by the temperature of Flareon's body which was overwhelming… So will I get less monitored now?"

"I'll do what it is in my power. But you still owe me answers"

"I know, and as I said, you will get them when the time is right…" Ray nodded to his pokemon whom aside from his Eevee, all went their separate ways. Ray and Eevee continued their way towards Lance's tower. Misty sighed.

--- Kingdom of Viridian ---

Three figures appeared out of the darkness and levitated towards a dark stoned thrown. The figure on the thrown stood up and with the eerie gloomy light that was sparse revealed Giovanni from the darkness.

"Do you come bearing good news?" He demanded. The three figures were chattering away amongst themselves when finally one of them was pushed forward to give their report.

"My siege, we do bear good news but apparently we also have some disappointing news that we are very ashamed off…"

"Very well, proceed…"

"As the team have deciphered from the ancient prophecy, we have captured the god of thunder; Zapdos and placed it under careful observations of our minions. Ho-oh was also guarded carefully but I'm afraid we do not have the means of properly sealing the holy bird. It powers were overwhelming so we were only able to guard all its means of escape and we were also able to constantly paralyze it with rotating pokemon on duty. Ho-oh as they deciphered is the 'wind of change' in the prophecy…"

"All good so far… Well done my minions… Or should I say my three beasts… So are we onto the bad news now?"

"I am sorry to be complementing you master, but you seem to be taking all this too well… You have our gratitude master… But no sir, we still bear good news… We have killed all the clamperls that we could get our hands on so most of the rest; if there are still any have fled from the shores of the land of kanto and johto. However, we are quite taken aback by the deciphering team as to their results stating that clamperl being the 'diamond of ice' in the prophecy as clamperls do not really have much ice properties…"

"You have a point Sird, but even so, that's all that they are able to decipher and we will just have to give them the satisfaction of giving them our trust. I myself too have doubts of their deciphering but I'll tell you what I have planned later…"

"Yes my lord… Well, the bad news would be that we could not locate where Mew is… The guardian of life in the prophecy…"

"Don't worry… Mew is quite the character. It's one of the legendaries that is quite intelligent even I have to complement that much… Well now my Beast Trio, you have done well… As of now, we should soon begin our reign of terror!"

"All hail Giovanni the supreme…" Many figures appeared all around them chanting the same thing. Sird and the rest of the beast trio retreated a few steps to allow Giovanni to walk and address his minions. Giovanni walked levitated down the steps that led to his thrown and came closer to the minions.

"Our days of living in this wretched hideout would soon come to an end my minions. We shall paint the Land of Kanto with darkness… and then, the world!" Everyone cheered.

--- Lance's Office, Palace of Pallet ---

Ray stepped into the room through the front door and was taken aback by what he found in the room. Lance was standing up facing away from him. He was in deep conversation with a floating pink figure in front of him.

"Mew!"

"_**Yes young one… Do come in… We were waiting for your attendance"**_

'What the heck is wrong with Mew? She sounds all… formal and old!' Ray thought which got the same curious look from Eevee.

"Come on in Ray… We have got some matters to be discussed. And you may be able to shed more light on things Mew is explaining to me rather than I try to understand them myself…" Lance said as he motioned for Ray to enter the room. Ray walked in with Eevee perched up on his right shoulder joined in with the duo.

"_**We were discussion matters on Gary…"**_

"So Lance knows?"

"Well… I'm still trying to understand" Ray sighed. He then relayed the whole story, omitting the part with Celebi and him being somewhat from another world. Lance then nodded showing his understanding. "So Mew, what is the problem at the moment?"

"_**Ray may be able to answer this one better too…"**_

"Me?"

"_**Yes young one… You are capable of seeing circumstances of your own current action, am I correct?"**_

"Mew… you are so making it hard on me at the moment… How am I supposed to know why you are here?"

"_**Very well young one, if you insist, I will be the one to explain… You see, Gary is nearing the phase where he is about to transform completely into his former self; his human form. And with this, it will sprout confusion with many parties, especially the band of friends that Prince Ash has. At the moment, as I may foretell, Ray alone is not sufficient in damage control. It may sprout further suspicions into his character. My point is that we need another one, another friend of Prince Ash to have an inside scoop of all this so that the process of damage control would become more efficient and less suspicious…"**_

"Thank all the mighty powers above for that explanation Mew. I don't know how I would have to come up with that one…"

"Ray, manners to the holy being please…" Ray chuckled softly.

"My gratitude goes to you owh holiness"

"That's better…"

"So Mew, what did you mean that I could foresee circumstances of my… Owh wait a minute… You don't mean…"

"_**Yes young one, you are catching up quite well…"**_

"But can't we get anyone else?"

"I assure you that Mew's choice is the very best. I have already summoned that said person"

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Lance walked towards the door and opened it. He let the person into the room. Ray sighed.

--- Ash's room, Palace of Pallet ---

Ash stirred and then woke up from another one of his wonderful dream. He got off his bed and walked towards the balcony where Ray usually made his grand exits and entrances. Ash admired the view of the Kingdom of Pallet that was in sight. He then leaned his back onto the reeling of the balcony and closed his eyes to imagine his dream guy being here next to him and enjoying the view too. He would really like for the guy to stay by his side and help him rule the kingdom in the future…

"I've been dreaming of him non-stop now… Does that mean that the time that we shall meet draws closer? Owh shooting star… You did hear my wish the other night didn't you? Thank you for granting it…" Ash then opened his eyes and set his sight upon the two sleeping on his bed. He then hummed to a song he got stuck in his head. Then, words started to come out of his mouth…

_I know you… I walked with you once upon a dream…_

_I know you… The gleam in your eyes is so familiar a gleam…_

Ash then danced around on the balcony as he danced with his Prince Charming in his wonderful dreams. Step by step he took carefully as to keep it as real as possible. Then suddenly, Ash stopped in his tracks as he felt light beaming from inside his room. He rushed in with hands trying to cover the light from blinding him. He saw that the source was from the bed where Snap and Gary were. He ran towards the bed.

"Gary! Snap! Gary! Gary! Where are you?" Ash shouted as he saw neither Gary nor Snap due to all the light blinding him. He didn't have much choice but to feel his way around the bed to get the two to safety he guessed. Ash searched frankly on the bed but felt that the light was more intense as he searched on the bed. Finally, his hands caught something.

"Gary? Snap?" He could not make out which one it was as the figure he held in his arms did not resemble the shape of either Gary or Snap. Ash shook the figure that was in his hands even harder. "Whoever you are, don't hurt any of my friends!" Ash shouted. Suddenly, he felt something weird ran through him. The feeling was too familiar but he could not make out what it was. He then felt himself becoming weak and fragile. He let go of the figure and fell unconscious on his bed. The figure he was holding too fell onto him.

"_**Umbreon, any ideas on what we should do?"**_

"_**I have no clue Espeon… We need Ray…"**_

Suddenly, both pokemon who just came into the room from the balcony herd chime of bells surrounding the room as mystical leaves appeared out of the blue and started to orbit the bed. Gradually, a figure appeared which Espeon and Umbreon could make out as Celebi.

"_**Umbreon, Espeon… I need your help for this"**_

"_**We are at your service Maam"**_

"_**We are at your service o great keeper of time…"**_

"_**Umbreon, you have to minimize all the light that is illuminating from this room to avoid suspicions. I'm glad that Ray ordered you two to knock out all the monitoring assassins a while ago or else they might have already barged in…"**_

Umbreon did as he was told. He went up to the door of the balcony and faced towards the inside of the room. A dark magical orb started to form in his mouth and got bigger as time passes. It absorbed a little of the blinding light but did nothing much in minimizing it from flashing to the world outside. Then Umbreon let loose the orb as his Night Shade attack that covered the whole room in mystical darkness. Espeon became a little dizzy but then glowed green.

"_**I need you too Espeon so don't grow weak because of his attack. Come here and try to snap Gary and Snap out of their sleep. It's too early for the transformation to occur. I feel the presence of other forces at hand here but we'll just leave that for later… Espeon, use your psychic to snap them out of their sleep…"**_

Espeon's eyes glowed purple as her tail perked up into the air. Then both the illuminating figures started to glow in tune with Espeon. One of the figures began shrinking and finally tuened into and Eevee. The illuminating light started to fade slowly and both Snap and Gary began to stir.

"_**You two have been a great help. Ray did well in choosing you two as part of his arsenal. May you all be well in the things to come… I have to depart for now before these two fully wake up. Umbreon, you may lift your night shade now as Espeon doesn't need more weakening that it is already going through. The light has also faded and will not cause much suspicion now. Take care Umbreon, Espeon" **_Mystical glowing leaves started to circle Celebi as it started to disappear into nothingness. Umbreon's rings stopped glowing as his night shade attack faded away while Espeon still struggled to wake Gary and Snap up.

"_**What happened?"**_ Gary asked as he woke up completely. Espeon then stopped glowing and dropped to the floor with Umbreon racing towards her to catch her. Snap let out a yawn and slowly opened his eyes.

--- Lance's Office, Palace of Pallet ---

"Owh great Mew, it is an honour to be summoned into your presence…"

"I still see why we couldn't have chosen someone else…" Ray rebutted. Mew sent him a glare which made him give up his argument and went on with whatever the pink feline was planning. Misty also shot a glare his way.

"_**You see young Ray… Misty is not only a trained thief; she is a specially trained thief from the Kingdom of Cerulean. She has been sent to Pallet because she was handpicked by her parents; the current rulers of Cerulean to be one of the high committee members of the Sacred Eight Nobles"**_

"Ok… I was oblivious to anything about the Sacred Eight Nobles… Would there be any chance that you might fill me in owh great one?" Ray asked is a teasing manner which earned him a strong nudge from Lance.

"Let me handle this matter dear Shape Shifter. We, the Sacred Eight Nobles have been sworn to secrecy of our identity until the day came when all eight of us will be summoned to act. We could only be summoned by one being, the Shape Shifter; the elusive Mew. In short, each and every one of the eight has powers exceeding the rules of the nine sacred kingdoms governing the continent of Kanto. Why nine? Since eight kingdoms had to send a selected member of their ruling families here, the ninth kingdom; Pallet need not have to choose a noble to represent it as it serves as a base of the meeting…" Misty explained.

"Wow…"

"_**And that base of the meeting would actually be in the Tree of Beginnings"**_

"I should have expected someone with your level of skills were associates of the Shape Shifter, Ray. However, I didn't expect it to be the case as you have done well in covering your motives…"

"All in a day's work… Well… I guess I should be heading out since you guys seem to be acquaintances already, you wouldn't need me here…"

"_**Very well young Ray… You may leave. But I have to warn you; I was told that the time is nearing every so closely. You will have to join in the meeting with the Sacred Eight Nobles when that time arrives…"**_

"Gotcha! Buzz me when you need me!" Ray then left the room as Mew started to brief Misty on the whole situation.

--- In Dreamland ---

"Thank you for that great dance once again… It felt like we connected really well…"

"That's because I love you Ash… My prince Ash…" Ash and the prince shared a kiss under the moonlight.

"It's unfair that you know my name… May I also know yours?"

"You know me too well Ash… It's me… Ga…"

--- Ash's room, Palace of Pallet ---

Ash woke up to the licking done by Gary. He wiped his wet cheeks and started to ponder.

"I know him too well? What did he say his name was? Ga… Garreth? Gavin?"

* * *

Bboyz: And that's all for this chapter folks… I am sorry for the late update and truthfully… I don't think I want to make any promises of when the next chapter will be up (since somehow I kindda added stuff to the whole story and need to re-think the plot…) but I'll try to update a.s.a.p.


	8. At wit's end

Hey people!  
I am truly sorry for the lack of updates the past 2 YEARS! OMG, it's been that long has it? Sheesh... hahaha. Well, I DONT THING THERE'RE ANY EXCUSES FOR THE LACK OF UPDATES SO I'LL JUST STOP TRYING TO COME UP WITH ANY BEFORE HURTING MYSELF! Hehe...

Well, anyways, since I haven't written in such a LONG time (and since then I haven't had much exposure to literature based stuff) I think my writing has turned a little shabby! This chapter is just a little... transaction to the next one. Well, the story's kindda long if I wanted to explain myself here, but to shorten it, the fic will hopefully return to it's normal course starting from chapter 9 onwards (since I actually don't know how chapter 8 was lost and had to retype it all over again). The flow may be a little crocked here and there in this chapter please, do take note on that. =]

You're probably sick of me babbling on already. So here's Chapter 8. I do not own pokemon. =]

* * *

Chapter 8

[Previously, we've left our heroes in the middle of a new revelation…]

"Let me handle this matter dear Shape Shifter. We, the Sacred Eight Nobles have been sworn to secrecy of our identity until the day came when all eight of us will be summoned to act. We could only be summoned by one being, the Shape Shifter; the elusive Mew. In short, each and every one of the eight has powers exceeding the rules of the nine sacred kingdoms governing the continent of Kanto. Why nine? Since eight kingdoms had to send a selected member of their ruling families here, the ninth kingdom; Pallet need not have to choose a noble to represent it as it serves as a base of the meeting…" Misty explained.

"Wow…"

"_**And that base of the meeting would actually be in the Tree of Beginnings"**_

"I should have expected someone with your level of skills were associates of the Shape Shifter, Ray. However, I didn't expect it to be the case as you have done well in covering your motives…"

"All in a day's work… Well… I guess I should be heading out since you guys seem to be acquaintances already, you wouldn't need me here…"

"_**Very well young Ray… You may leave. But I have to warn you; I was told that the time is nearing every so closely. You will have to join in the meeting with the Sacred Eight Nobles when that time arrives…"**_

"Gotcha! Buzz me when you need me!" Ray then left the room as Mew started to brief Misty on the whole situation.

[Back to the present…]

- Prince Ash's Royal Chamber ¦ Palace of Pallet -

Ash abruptly awoke from yet another dream that has been bothering him these past few nights. He realized that he was actually sweating and a little breathless. He scanned the room and saw that Gary was still sleeping soundly next to him. Ash tried his best not to make too much noise or movements as not to stir the little Eevee from its slumber. Ash then realized some other peculiar things about his room.

'Misty?' Ash thought as he saw the orange haired maid was peacefully sleeping on the sofa of his royal chambers. It made him wonder why she was there in the first place. He slipped out of his sheets as carefully as possible and walked towards his balcony. He saw that it was really dark outside.

"What had happened? I didn't remember sleeping at all… and these aren't my pyjamas!" Ash spoke to himself. He was then startled as he heard something above him. He looked up and saw a Noctowl hooting and was preparing to take off. He made an educated guess that it was still in the wee hours of the morning but he felt himself already energized and had enough sleep. He stayed up to take in the view at night time of the kingdom he is one day expected to rule.

As time went by, he saw that there was a line of light at the horizon as the skies started to change colour. He walked into his room and decided to wake Misty up.

"ASH! What happened to you?"

"What happened to me? Why the heck are you here?"

"So you don't remember a thing?" Ash shook his head and his face was confused; a face full of enquiries which demanded answers.

"Well, we found you asleep at about late afternoon with Snap sprawled on the floor and Gary a little worn out". Ash suddenly looked at Gary but could not find anything peculiar about the little critter. He looked around for any signs of Snap too but he was no where to be found. Ash looked at Misty. Both were lost at what happened and what was happening. Misty had a hunch although she made it clear towards Ash that she was as clueless as he was. Both of them shook it off and tried to forget it.

- Ray's shared dorm ¦ Palace of Pallet -

Ray sat on his bed looking worriedly towards Snap who was lost in deep sleep. He sighed. Things were getting complicated; the involvement of the sacred nobles, Gary very close to transforming back, Snap getting involved in all this and so on. He felt tears forming in his eyes but held it back. Things were getting tougher and he felt he did not have any control over anything anymore.

He felt useless. They even needed Misty to pitch in for him. He couldn't even do anything to lessen the burden on someone close to him. He felt utterly useless. But he was thankful for the pokemons that was by his side. Without them, it would have been even worst. They made it easier for them. Ray then got up and looked out of the window.

'Why am I this weak?' Images of Snap smiling and fooling around with him raced through his mind. Suddenly, he felt a jolt of wave ran through him. It made his knees weak and he collapsed while still staring at the sun rising in the morning sky…

- Throne Room ¦ Viridian Castle -

"King Samuel! King Samuel!" guards and a few elders that were in the throne room with King Samuel at the time ran straight to him to aid him. He was about to sit on the throne for morning duties when he suddenly collapsed.

"Call in Sir Giovanni!" one of the guards called out which resulted with a few disapproving looks from the elders but they did not have time to argue as the King's well being was more important and Giovanni was the best wizard in the vicinity. A few priests were already using their healing spells but nothing was working. The King stared blankly at the ceiling, unable to neither move nor respond to anything.

"What is the meaning of all this ruckus this early in the morning?" Giovanni demanded as he entered the throne room. The sight of the king lying on the floor with many aiding him by his side caught his eyes. He smirked unnoticed by others. He pretended to run towards the king face plastered with false concern. "Take him to his royal chambers and please, elders; do join me… I will need your help". Giovanni tried to win over the elders with his act.

- Ray's shared dorm ¦ Palace of Pallet -

Ray slowly lifted his eyelids which felt very heavy and quite a challenge to do. He blinked a few times before he could fully open them as the light was rushing through more than he could bear. As he was able to register his surroundings, he saw that he was in his own bed with Ash sleeping by his side with Gary on his head. He saw that it was probably late afternoon by all the light that was illuminating the room from outside. Then he noticed Espeon and Umbreon were by the bedside looking at him with full concern. Ray smiled.

"Espeon, would you be able to keep these two asleep with hypnosis? I think I have something I need to do…" Espeon nodded while Umbreon was still concerned with Ray's well being. Espeon hopped onto the bed and hypnotic waves came out of it as its eyes glowed and it hummed. Ray stood in the middle of the room and closed his eyes.

"It's time I took matters into my own hands. I'm sorry…" Ray then suddenly glowed with a pillar of white light surrounding him. Suddenly ancient writing flew out of him and circled around the pillar. Umbreon growled disapprovingly at Ray's actions but Ray was oblivious to anything around him. His hands moved at lightning speed making special seals. As his hands stopped with the last seal, a wave of explosion ran through the room.

Ray froze in mid-air.

"_**I never would have though you would resort to this Ray…"**_ the sound of bells chimed as mystical looking leaves surrounded Ray. _**"I'm glad I made it in time to halt the whole process from succeeding. You are still needed here young interdimensional one".**_

Ray then dropped motionless to the floor.

- Royal Chamber ¦ Viridian Castle -

Giovanni stopped in his tracks. He looked all around him.

"What's wrong Sir?"

"Nothing… nothing… I just had a feeling that something happened. Would it be ok if I leave the king with all of you? I've already done the best I could. He'll be fine soon enough", Giovanni said as he slammed the door open and made his way out. As he reached a room where no one was around, he knocked his staff towards the floor and conjured a magic ball in front of him which immediately started to glow.

"These waves… It looks very foreign but yet familiar…" He waved his hands above the crystal ball a few more times to observe the waves he felt better. Then it came to him. "This is very ancient spell… A spell I've seen only been used once before in my life… So you're still alive and around eh boy… This makes things interesting… If he's still around, that must mean that he's with the little brat! I'm sure of it… This calls for action soon".

- Prince Ash's Royal Chamber ¦ Palace of Pallet -

Ash sighed. It felt a little weird this past week. It felt a little empty. He was supposed to train Gary but as things weren't really great at the moment, he opted to stay in his room most times. His friends came here and then but he still didn't feel like doing anything. He felt ashamed of himself…

[flashback]

"It's not your fault at all Ash!" Snap tried to calm him down.

"But I was there the whole time…"

"You couldn't have stayed awake that long doing nothing. It's normal to have dozed off. And you know how he is… He's… well, he'd never want to trouble anyone would he?" Richie added.

"Still, dozing off when a friend needed me was not acceptable!" Brock, Richie and Snap sighed not knowing what else they could do to calm the prince down.

"You heard what Sir Lance said. He's just exhausted…" Ash held Gary tighter. Gary too was feeling down at what had happened. Gary did not move nor he made any noise as the four friends were somewhat quarrelling.

"And you expect me to believe that? He was all battered on the ground when I woke up and realized he wasn't in bed. His pulses were weak and he wasn't even responsive", Ash cried out.

"Snap out of it!" Snap stood up and shook Ash to his senses, "Would you think he'd like you to be like this and blame yourself for something not even you could have controlled?". Everyone was silent. Ash wept silently in Snap's grip. Snap pulled him in for a hug and patted his back.

[end of flashback]

He hugged Gary as he jumped into bed to mull over what had happen.

"Hey Gary…"

"_**Gosh Ashy-boy… You shouldn't be like this! As much as I know Ray; which isn't that much really, I know he wouldn't have wanted you to be like this".**_

"I hope nothing like this ever happens to me and you… I could not imagine how I could bear the thought of even losing you!" Tears started to pour out of Ash's eyes. Gary licked those tears and tried to wipe them out with his paws.

"_**Hey, we haven't lost anyone. He's just recovering Ash. Snap out of it will you?"**_

"I've decided Gary… I'm going to train to become an acolyte! I hate seeing people getting hurt. I hate feeling useless when people need help. I hate not being able to do anything…"

Gary was taken aback. He hadn't thought that Ash was heading towards something like that. It felt somewhat familiar all of a sudden then he realized what it was. He heard the same thing when his late sister decided to become an acolyte as well… She loved the way their mother would be able to heal their wounds. She once escaped from their sitter and went to the infirmary. She loved the sight of how the priests and acolytes were healing wounded soldiers. Gary now saw a little bit of his sister in Ash. It made it nostalgic all of sudden. He smiled at the now to be acolyte prince. Ash smiled back as he saw Gary wag his tail.

"Glad you like the idea Gary!" Ash said and placed Gary on a pillow as he rolled onto his front. Gary then jumped off the pillow and hopped onto Ash's back, giving him a little back rub trying to release some tension from his prince. Ash chuckled at the thought but was grateful he had such a thoughtful and loving Eevee by his side. It tickled him more than it felt like a back rub but he played along. Gary looked proud of himself as he marched back and forth on Ash's back.

"_**Gosh… I can't believe I'm imagining thing like this… Me giving Ash a real back rub… Sheesh… Pull yourself together Gary Oak… You're an Eevee for crying out loud"**_ he said as he tried to forget the image of him sitting on Ash's back and giving Ash a massage using his own two hands instead of his four paws.

Ash then turned around which made Gary wall flat on his back next to Ash on the bed. Ash sat up on the bed and started to run his fingers down Gary's front. It tickled Gary as he wiggled under Ash's hands but Ash wasn't done. He used all his fingers and tickled Gary with all his might which actually earned him a playful Headbutt attack from the cute little Eevee.

"Aww… what was that for?"

"_**That was uncalled for Ash Ketchum. Oh my god, I sound like my mum… Ashy-boy, I'm glad you've come back to your senses"**_ Gary yelped which wasn't understood by Ash at all but both were happily enjoying each other's company as always. Unknowing to them both, Snap was smiling happily seeing the young prince was finally cheering up again after what had happened about a week ago.

- Ray's shared dorm ¦ Palace of Pallet -

Misty sat there looking at the form that was asleep on the bed peacefully. It's been a week already and he still hasn't woken up; not even once. Misty then recalled a conversation he had with Sir Lance just after the incident had happened.

[flashback]

"Do you know what had happened to him?"

"He was under a lot of stress and so he tried something reckless. Well, that was what I was told by Mew", Lance explained. Misty sighed. What could have driven the usually calm and collected Ray to the brink of doing something reckless?

"What did…"

"As you may have figured out, this guy isn't any ordinary acolyte since he has ties with the legendary shape shifter. To think of what he did may well be out of our own imaginations if I do say so myself as I've never seen anything that could take out a guy for this long…"

[end of flashback]

"What the…"

Misty gasped and ran straight towards the bed and held one of Ray's hands. A sleeping Snap startled in his sleep and slowly opened his heavy eyes to see what the commotion was all about. He too jolted up towards the bed.

"Hey mister acolyte, you've been out for quite a while…"

"Hey Ray. Glad that you're back" Ray smiled at the two. He tried to sit up but didn't have enough strength. Both Snap and Misty gestured for Ray to stop straining himself and stay just the way he was.

"How long was I out for?"

"About a week" Snap answered softly as he brushed a few strands of hair and sweat off Ray's forehead. Ray looked surprised and jolted upright on his bed.

"A week!"

"Calm down Ray, everything's fine". Misty tried calming the young acolyte down as she nodded towards Ray when Snap wasn't looking her way. Ray quickly understood that she meant everything with the nobles was running smoothly.

"You stay rested and gather your energy. We don't want you more exhausted than you already are" said Snap as he give Ray a peck on the forehead while he and Misty left the room. A sudden breeze brushed in through the window as the room slightly dimmed. Ray had a bad feeling he knew what was coming his way.

"_**Young one, you nearly crossed one of your taboos back then…" **_

"I know I was reckless but you know where my heart was, didn't you?"

"_**Your feelings and heart does not have that many rights in determining that child's fate Ray. You were given a task and you should stick to it as you have been told to do so. Although you have gone against a few rules previously, we have overlooked it as you are one of best interdimentional beings around".**_

"That still doesn't justify why a little help would not be allowed"

"_**There're so many things you don't understand Ray…"**_

"_**Celebi's right Ray; by doing what you did back then, you've alerted Giovanni of your existence. Thus giving him the idea that the child is still in safe hands and is with you"**_

"_**And you know that by casting that spell you might have killed yourself in the process"**_

"Does that matter to anyone? It's not like I have a place to go back to…"

"_**You may not know it, but there are ones that care for your well-being Ray"**_

Celebi and Mew both disappeared as a few knocks on the door was heard. Slowly, a boy and an Eevee peeked in. Ray smiled which signalled an approval for them to come in. Both Ash and Cary pounced to Ray's side and check on how he was.

- Headquarters ¦ Tree of Beginnings -

"It's been a few weeks since you've been here eh Kid", Lt Surge said as Ray entered the room.

"Well, 'things' have been happening around the palace and all… But I was called here urgently for something".

"Well, we've been cooped up here since we were summoned so a little action would be great", Sabrina added. Suddenly, Mew appeared out of nowhere.

* * *

Sorry for the short chapter. My original chapter 8 got lost in transition so here's what I could get done (in a really short time after having this sudden urge to write again). And hopefully there won't be another unplanned long hiatus as the next few chapters HAVE been typed up. I just need to plan on when to upload them to give me time to type up future chapters in advanced. =]

Till next time!


	9. Settling In

Sorry people! would have updated sooner but I had a problem with . something about Error 2~ Anywayz, Will try to be more frequent with the updates since the problem's been sorted...

Thank you very much to those who review chapter 8 even though that little chapter was short and simple. =] Thank you, you made my day! hehe, and yes, it may be vain but I do love reading reviews! Reviews that have building criticism and correcting my errors are also most welcomed! We're here to improve ourselves!

Anywayz, enough of those crap. I DO NOT OWN POKEMON.

-Bboyz

* * *

[Previously on The Eevee Prince]

"Well, 'things' have been happening around the palace and all… But I was called here urgently for something".

"Well, we've been cooped up here since we were summoned so a little action would be great", Sabrina added. Suddenly, Mew appeared out of nowhere.

[back to the present]

The room shook as a huge pair of old majestic looking doors grew out of one of the walls. The pair of doors swung abruptly open as four figures covered in shadows stood under its arch. Mew flew majestically towards the figures as they turned to face the group. One by one the stepped forward where they were illuminated for everyone to see.

"_**With the huge events that will be happening soon, I had to recruit these people to help us with defending ourselves **__**against Giovanni. These four have been trained under rigorous training and hardships that was indirectly been instructed by me"**_ Mew said telepathically. Mew smiled and gestured for the four to introduce themselves.

A middle-aged lady stepped forward and smiled towards the occupant of the meeting room. Her brown semi cape lined her upper body and her skirt swayed following her leg movements. She gave an aura of elegance that shone towards the others. She rested the staff she was holding in her right hand on the floor and used it partially as a support for her posture.

"I am Lorelei of the mystical islands of Seafoam", said Lorelei casually as she brushed a few strands of her glistening magenta hair off her forehead with her left hand and smiled. Blaine was a little startled but kept his composure.

"I was unaware that those Islands were occupied. The legends must be true…" Blaine said as he did a little bow towards Lady Lorelei. Lorelei responded with a little bow of her own and was a little taken aback with the formalities she was treated to.

"Thank you sir, but please; discard the formalities", Lorelei said as she also did a little bow towards Blaine. "As your friend has said, not many know the existence of our little tribe living on the islands. We are a family of magical descendants that can manipulate water and ice at ease amongst other elements".

"Are you referring to The Water Wielders?" Misty asked. Lorelei smiled and nodded.

"Yes; I am one of those people you said. So, we're not that elusive after all".

"No; no. Although I am not a magician but wizardry does have its parts in our history", explained Misty.

"And as children we were told of stories; legends of the water wielders and its ties with our Kingdom of Cerulean", Lily added.

"Aah, the royal princesses of Cerulean. Yes, our history and yours does have its ties and truth be told, those ties are still very strong and tight. Although this may be true, the existence of our people must still remain untold of so most people will not be told of us…" Lorelei explained although she looked a little hesitant, gaining suspicion from Misty. Upon seeing this, Lorelei gave a little nod towards Misty who brushed her suspicion off for a while.

"_**The tides that bind…"**_ Mew spoke. Lily, Misty and Lorelei nodded. Both Lily and Misty; unknowingly to the others, held their hands to their chest where their family emblem, a cerulean coloured gem shaped into a water droplet necklace. A similar coloured gem on top of Lorelei's staff glimmered for a few milliseconds, resonated with the other two necklaces. Only the three felt it and smiled in the presence of each other.

"That's the mystical ways of water"

"Well, that was a lengthy intro, don't you think so Lorelei?" a voice came from the second figure in line. The man stepped forward just as Lorelei did.

"Yes indeed Bruno, but you didn't have to point it out", Lorelei replied.

"Aww, you spoilt my big intro! Anyway, as you've heard the lady, I'm Bruno of the rocky paths of Victory Road. Yeah, it seems well prehistoric and all to be living there but our people still thrived well!" Bruno gave a wide smile. His cape swayed with the huge silver armour that lined his big frame. An unknown crest was engraved into the armour in front of his neck and on both of the sides of his upper arms. His belt held two weapons; a huge sword and a small knife.

"Woah, it's a challenge to even venture within those paths, but to actually live there! You sir are very special!" Flint said. Bruno grinned. He rubbed the back of his head with his golden gloves messing his long black hair up.

"Well, it not as if I'm the only one that lives there. Our tribe's been living there for ages!"

"Now who's talking too much now?" Lorelei joked which earned a blush from Bruno making his sun-kissed tan skin look even darker. A little round of chuckles were heard from the other two figures behind Lorelei and Bruno.

"Kids…", the third figure sighed. She stepped forward revealing her greying blond hair. Her red dress flowed down lining her little frame. Two pieces of matching cloth also dangled from both her arms as she placed them on her hips. She gave a little disapproving shake of her head at the prior two elites. Then she faced the group of nobles. "I am Agatha, a sage from the land of Lavender"

"And I am Lance, a high priest from Pallet". The forth figure spoke as he walked forward and bowed to the group of nobles. His red hair matched the parts of his clothes around his chest and wrists while it stood out really well from the rest of the white of his robe. His brown trousers were covered partly by brown extensions from his red and white robe. Ray smiled as Lance glanced his way.

"_**These four**__** elites: Lady Lorelei, Lord Bruno, Lady Agatha and Lance will be aiding Ray with surveillance here as you nobles carry on with your daily lives now centering on the Kingdom of Pallet. Queen Delia has been informed of your presence; hence preparations have been made for the past weeks or so. You will be assigned with posts suited to your prior titles from your homelands"**_ Mew conveyed telepathically. The nobles nodded and so did Ray.

Lorelei tapped her onto the ground which signalled a few doors to open. From these doors a few pokemon flew in and stood in front of each and every one of the nobles.

"These will be our means of communication. I hope that everyone will be able to carry their Xatus everywhere they go as anything can happen at anytime. These Xatus will be contacted telepathically through this young man's Espeon as head of communications from this centre", Agatha explained which gained many surprised looks at how their communication system worked through pokemons. Each Xatu hopped onto their noble's right shoulder and chirped. Four more Xatus then teleported into the room under Mew's command and flew straight onto the shoulders of the elites.

"These are your Xatus" Mew said addressing the four elites. "I do not expect you to be cooped up in here all the time so these will serve as communication for you as well". The elites nodded. Ray fumed and crossed his arms.

"And does this mean I have to be cooped up here all the time?"

"_**No young Ray, but you are expected most times. When you are not here, Lance will be **__**nearby to contact you in case you are needed. Unfortunately, Espeon and Umbreon will be needed here all the time",**_ Mew explained. Ray nodded even though still unsatisfied with how things are for him.

"_**Everyone may be dismissed" **_

Mew teleported out gracefully from where it was floating. The room started to shake as the round meeting table started to be swallowed by the ground beneath them. Monitors appeared out of the walls around them as five observatory workspaces consisting of table-like furniture with multiple small buttons on them as well as a comfy chair came out of the ground in front of the monitor panels. In the middle of the room, two huge pillows; one purple and one black floated down from the ceiling as the area was then boarded with raised flooring.

"Sheesh, these guys get it easy", Ray said as he imagined Espeon and Umbreon lying comfortably on the soft looking cushions. He then felt a few taps on his right shoulder and turned around to see Lance smiling at him from behind.

"Hey Ray, we have our first assignment", he said as he pointed towards the group of nobles feeling uneasy as not knowing what to be done next.

"What? I have to give out commands?" Ray asked in shock. Beads of sweats suddenly start to form at the top of his forehead. Lance laughed a little before shaking his head.

"No silly. We just have to teleport them back to Pallet with our powers. We'll teleport them to the throne room where Queen Delia will greet them formally and give them their orders", Lance explained.

"Her as well?" Ray asked pointing towards Misty. Lance nodded.

"Well, generally yes, but she's already been assigned her cover-up job as Prince Ash's maid" Lance responded. Lance them took out a number of blue stones from his pocket and handed them over to Ray, "Here, I know you don't have many at your disposal". Ray thanked the High Priest as he took the shining blue stones from Lance's hands.

Lance and Ray walked side by side towards a space where no one was standing and faced each other. Both held a number of blue stones out in front of them, closed their eyes and chanted some spell in unison. Suddenly, a blue warp space glowed on the ground that was in between the two of them. Both opened their eyes and looked towards the nobles.

"This warp portal will take you straight to the throne room of the Palace of Pallet. Queen Delia will be there to greet you and explain to you the rest" Lance explained as he gestured towards the glowing blue portal next to him.

"Oh yeah, don't forget your Xatus people!" Ray said cheerfully as one by one the nobles started to head towards the portal and teleported out of the room. Misty was the last to go.

"Misty, if Ash asks, you know how to handle things I assume?" Lance asked. Misty nodded and gave Lance her relaxed smile. She was relieved that even though things were getting serious, at least she and Lance had already known each other prior to this meeting so that it would be easier to work each other in the future compared to the others.

"Positive. I will tell him that Ray is training under you outside of our grounds"

"Sheesh, cut the formalities woman!" Ray teased.

"And I'll send your love to Snap as well, don't you worry about that 'Young Ray'", Misty teased although with a dead serious face that did not hint hilarity in them. Ray fumed and blushed furiously at the same time.

"You will do no such…" Ray did not get to finish his sentence when Misty already teleported out of the room. The blue warp portal disintegrated as she disappeared from their sight. "Girls…" Ray sighed which earned a bout of chuckle from Lance, Lorelei and Bruno while Agatha kept her composure and smiled.

"So who's the lucky guy kid?" Lorelei asked. Ray blushed an even darker shade of red as Lorelei and Bruno came to huddle up around him.

"His name's Snap. An exceptional magician trained in the palace and serves as the prince's personal magician mind you~" Lance explained.

"A magician eh? So you're into the hocus pocus type of people? Then you, me and Agatha will blend just nice", Lorelei said. Ray nodded in agreement although still in the state of embarrassment.

"So, I assume you're a wizard Lady Lorelei?" Ray asked.

"Hey, cut the formalities kid. Just call me by my given name. And yes, your assumptions are nearly correct as I am a High Wizard and Agatha there's not a sage. She likes to bluff in front of people. She's actually a Scholar; a level superior than the sages", Lorelei explained. Ray looked in awe.

"I try to skill the minor details. We do mostly the same things. I was a Sage too before so I see no harm in saying so", Agatha replied. Ray nodded although a little confused on how things were.

"Hey Lorelei, you've forgotten something. The kid's into guys! Don't sweat it kid, you can drool over me if you don't get the chance to see you magician lover boy", Bruno kidded which earned him a bout of Napalm Beat; balls of negative energy summoned by Lorelei. Bruno fell to the ground with a little headache.

"Don't mind him; he's like that most of the time. You'll grow to tolerate him soon enough"

"So you've all met each other prior to this meeting?"

"Yes young Ray. We've been summoned once before by Mew to fight alongside the previous king of Pallet. Although at the time Lance here was still young thus preventing him from earning his Lordship just before the king died of his illness", Agatha answered. Ray nodded as he looked on and saw Lance trying to wake Bruno up with a few reviving spells taught to all acolytes like himself.

"I don't really get how you guys have this positions; I mean the High Priest and High Wizards and all"

"Well Ray. I'll use you as an example. That might be a little easier to understand. You're now and acolyte, and with a little more training; which will personally be done by me, you will soon become a Priest. As a Priest, you'll learn the many ways of Priesthood; be it a combat priest, healing priest and so on. As soon as you've mastered your ways through all that, you can either stay at that position which most people do or you can go on further", Lance explained.

"But it's quite a tedious process though", Lorelei butted in with a bored and tired expression wiped acrossed her face.

"Let the man explain!" Bruno responded. Lorelei glared at him; getting her staff at the ready which he responded with both arms raised in the air signalling surrender. Lorelei smiled.

"She's absolutely right. Only a few have the nerves and wits to go through the process. To gain an even higher power as such, you'll be stripped off your current powers and go through all those training; this time more challenging and a little harder than before as some sort of a reincarnation process. Well, that's how I was explained before. And well, you can only do this if you happen to know anyone with that profession, which is in your case; me, so I could perform that being reborn ritual thing".

"Oh… Hey, isn't Queen Delia a High Priestess as well?"

"Yes, she is. She's one special woman I might add. Although she's been born with royal blood and could live an easy life as a normal priestess, she endeavoured the tough journey anyway, albeit with a little discouragement from the late King", Agatha explained. Ray nodded.

"Hey guys, don't you think we should get to work?" Bruno asked and snapped everyone else back to reality. They all nodded and smiled; each and every one of them took their posts.

- Throne Room ¦ Palace of Pallet -

"Welcome everyone" greeted Queen Delia as all the nobles arrived into the throne room. She smiled at each and every one of them seeing the uneasiness in their faces. "Please do make yourselves at home here. I'm so sorry for the inconvenience that has brought all the nobles together and had to make you part with your homelands"

"My queen, it is an honour to be at the service of the elusive shape shifter; Mew, as well as you, your majesty; the famous matriarch of Pallet; the land that bears high respect among other lands", Blaine said as he bowed followed by bows from Lt Surge, Flint and Koga as a well as curtsies from Lily, Erika, Sabrina and Misty.

"Oh no, no… Cut the formalities between us. We are all of royal blood. Just call me by my given name", Queen Delia said waving her hands in disagreement.

"But of course not my queen; Pallet has been known for its prestige throughout the Land of Kanto. The royal family of Pallet is seen as the ruler among rulers in Kanto and we've all testified to that fact", Lt Surge added. Queen Delia sighed.

"Then please do this as a queen's wish to other royalties", Queen Delia pleaded.

"We will try our best your highness", Koga said. Queen Delia sighed.

"Well now, I was supposed to explain everything to you, wasn't I? Forgive me to have dragged on with my introduction for so long already. I'm pleased to welcome you to the Kingdom of Pallet, and especially to our humble palace. As it may have been informed to you, you will all be staying here until whatever's happening have subsided so we will need to blend you in with the people around you to discard too much suspicions", Queen Delia explain.

"You will all be given royal chambers for your stay here which our dear Misty here will show you after this brief introduction. As of tomorrow, I will personally guide you to your new posts here in the palace. Sir Flint of Pewter, you will be the Chief Blacksmith here in the palace as we have not had anyone as high ranked as you in Pallet before. I humbly request that you share your wisdom with the merchants here so that we will have more capable Blacksmiths here in Pallet", Queen Delia continued.

"As you wish your highness"

"Lady Lily of Cerulean, you as a Rogue will co-command our secretive Assassin and Rogue Guild here as you will be in charge of it with Sir Koga due to the fact that the commanding Assassin will have to take his leave very soon for matters I expect him to explain to you himself soon enough"

"Thank you your highness. I will try my best to take his place in his absence"

"Lady Erika of Celadon, you will be a hunter instructor to the hunter-in-training archers of Pallet since there are so many capable archers here and not as many hunters to be training them. You will also be put into a joint commanding position in our Hunter's Guild". Erika bowed signalling her gratitude.

"Lady Sabrina of Saffron, you will join our sages in their sage circle and truth be told, I'm unaware of what you will be doing there although I have summoned the head sage and told him of your arrival. He will instruct you further tomorrow". Sabrina nodded.

"Sir or may I say Lt Surge of Vermillion; your stories are very wide spread. I'm very honoured that you've been sent here to aid us. You will be the acting Commanding Knight of our knights, crusaders and swordsmen. Our commanding knight spoke so highly of you and wished for you to lead them from here on out".

"Thank you your majesty. It is an honour to serve you"

"Sir Koga of Fushia, you; as I've already mentioned before, will be co-commanding the guild with Lady Lily. Our head Assassin will brief to you and Lady Lily your tasks in more details tomorrow". Koga nodded.

"Last and certainly not least; Sir Blaine of the Islands of Cinnabar, you will take charge of the wizardry academy as they chief wizard will be on leave soon for matter out of our hands. I'm so sorry to be burdening you with such feats"

"Not at all your majesty, it would be an honour to serve you and to watch all the little magicians grow".

"I thank you all for coming and apologize again for the circumstances that had to bring you here and part with your homelands. I am greatly honoured that fate has brought me very capable people from across the land of Kanto to protect this kingdom as well as Kanto. I apologize again if our palace does not cater to your needs as perfectly as your palaces at home. Thank you again and I will see all of you again tomorrow to personally guide you to your posts" Queen Delia ended her welcoming greeting. She did a little bow which was responded by bows from each and every one of the nobles.

- Palace Gardens ¦ Palace of Pallet -

"Hey guys, have you seen Ray anywhere? I haven't seen him in a while. He disappeared right after he recovered. I hope he's ok" Ash asked. Brock, Snap and Richie shrugged.

"But it's only today that we haven't seen him, right?" Brock asked. He gave a quick glance towards Snap who was as clueless as the rest of them.

"Yeah, I guess… But he's usually around and makes all the noise with his nuisance", Ash sighed missing all the commotion they all use to get into when they were all hanging around together.

"You've got that right", Richie giggled. Brock and Snap joined in. Gary tossed and turned in Ash's embrace trying to get out. Ash saw this and let the little critter go. Gary hopped out of Ash's lap and played pounce with the butterfrees and beautiflies that were playing around the flowers and vileplumes.

"Aww, he's so cute!"

"Yeah, he is", everyone turned around to see Misty come from behind them. Her skirt and apron brushed against the lush green grass which glistened under the shining golden orb in the sky.

"Where have you been all this time?" Brock asked.

"Hey! I'm a maid you know. We have work to do unlike you people that can skive and take time outs". Misty fumed. The other grinned knowing that they didn't have anything they could counter her argument with.

"Hey, cool down missy", Snap snapped. Misty glared at him which gave him the shivers down his spine.

"Oh, did you have extra work or something Misty. You would usually have been done already right about this time on other days", Richie perceptively enquired further.

"You're sharp. Well… We've got some people from foreign lands staying at our palace so we had to set up the royal chambers and show them around", Misty explained.

"Royal chambers? You mean we have other royalties coming to stay?" Snap asked.

"Yeah" Brock felt a little uneasy.

"Hey Misty, have you seen Ray at all today?"

"Oh, funny that you should mention him; yes I did. He told me to tell you he had to go out of the palace grounds to train with Sir Lance. I think they're thinking of getting him his priesthood soon"

"That guy is super duper fast!" Richie said, "I envy his bones!"

"And I'd love to jump his bones!" Snap joked out of nowhere. The situation got awkward at first but then everyone laughed except for Brock who pulled Misty a little closer to him. Gary who was already tired of hopping around with the flying bug pokemons slowly crawled towards Brock and Misty.

"You mentioned we have royalties around right? Is he here?" Brock whispered.

"Who? You mean your old man Sir Flint? Yeah, he's here", Misty answered.

"Pipe down woman. You're so gonna blow my cover!"

"Relax. He said that he'll keep it down low since you did want to keep your identity secret from everyone here" Misty said.

"Yeah, except for Queen Delia that is… And you for god-knows how you discovered"

"I have my ways young prince. It's in the cranks and turns of my profession" Misty said as she pulled Brock slowly back into the crowd of friends that were fooling around on the grass.

"**Woah, Brock's a prince? We're like the same… We****ll, except for the fact that he's human and I'm a…" **Gary was thinking to himself when suddenly a piercing headache kicked in, making him yelp and tossed and turned on the ground.

"Gary!" Ash shouted as he leaped towards Gary. Ash picked Gary up from the ground and hugged him tight towards his chest. Gary stirred around in dire pain.

"Snap!" Richie shouted as the boy suddenly collapsed onto him, totally unconscious. Both boys then fell to the ground with Snap lying on Richie. Brock hurried himself towards the fallen duo as Misty stood still not knowing what to do.

"Oh good god, this does not look good" Misty said as she looked up into the sky pleading in her heart for help when she noticed a few flocks of bird pokemon hurriedly flying away from the north. "Ok, something's happening… and man, it doesn't look good". She snapped back to where her friends were and saw that Ash had calmed Gary down who was now soundly asleep. Ash had brought Gary and himself closer to where Brock and Richie was trying to wake Snap up.

"He's still breathing… That's a good sign", Brock said but his confidence was shrouded by the worried look plastered onto his face, which was on both Richie's and Ash's faces too. Suddenly, they were all pushed back by an invisible force as Snap and Gary started to float off the ground in unison. Misty panicked. Ash, Brock and Richie looked on; totally lost and confused.

"What should I do?"

- Viridian Forest ¦ Kingdom of Viridian -

"Well, well… Look at how we've progressed. I think we're actually ready to start our reign", laughed Giovanni as he was observing all the pokemons they have captured.

"Yes my liege, preparation for your reign of terror is more than adequate already", one of the beast trios said.

"I am so proud of all of you for your hard work"

"Without you, we are nothing my lord", another one of the beast trios said.

"Quite so. Well, I guess it's time to release these pokemons and put them out of their miseries". Giovanni took out an old book from his cape and started to chant a few spells in front of the captured pokemons. One by one the pokemons closed their eyes; opening them soon after to reveal blood red glares of evil from them. The pokemons calmed down, all as if they were contented and are ready to serve their master. Giovanni smirked. A few minions scurried towards the cells to open them. The pokemons marched out and lined up in front of Giovanni.

"Everyone, get in position", shouted all three of the beast trios.

Giovanni stood in front of the army of pokemons and minions ready to serve him. The three beast trios walked up to him and went into their positions on his right while it can be seen by the rest that there were three other figured, shrouded in shadows on Giovanni's left.

"My army; it is time that we move out of this confinement and paint the world with darkness and into our command!" Giovanni shouted which gained roars of excitement, shouts and applause from the army that's ever so ready to do his biddings. The six figures beside Giovanni each gave an evil grin. The beast trios advanced from their positions while the other three figures disappeared into the shadows.

"Go forth into the world and wreck havoc! Our first target; Viridian. 'Our' little kingdom that's long awaited its new ruler!" Giovanni shouted as each beast trios lead a huge battalion out of their lair.

- Tree of Beginnings -

Espeon's ears perked up as Umbreon woke abruptly from his sleep. Both pokemons were on alert. Lorelei suddenly burst into shouts as she monitored a huge swarm of pokemon and human coming out of Viridian Forest towards the Kingdom of Viridian.

"Mayday! Mayday! We have trouble heading towards Viridian!" Lorelei shouted as she headed towards Espeon. The other four also headed towards Espeon and Umbreon in order to contact the other nobles. Lorelei was about to touch Espeon when suddenly all five of them; the elites and Ray were pushed back by purple and pink mystical aura. They recovered from the blast and saw that Mew was floating in between Espeon and Ubreon.

"_**Things are getting hectic **__**around Viridian but as I have mentioned earlier; Viridian has been cursed with the presence of that evil being for some time already. There is no need to alarm the other however there is a need to inform them of the current situation. Inform them of the siege of Viridian". **_

The elites and Ray nodded in unison. They stood up and went around the screen Lorelei was observing.

"But that has to be done a little later. Ray and Lance, you have an even more important task at hand", Mew said as it summoned Ray and Lance to view another screen. The screen changed from the landscape of Pewter to the current happenings at the Palace Gardens in Pallet.

"Gary! Snap!" Ray shouted as Lance looked on seriously.

"The fated time is approaching. Go forth and do what must be done". Ray and Lance nodded and teleported out of the room straight away with Espeon and Umbreon in tow. In The two pokemon's place, Mew teleported a Natu to cover. The three elites left nodded and knew what had to be done.

- Palace Gardens ¦ Palace of Pallet -

"Nobles, we have some news…" Misty felt a surge of information run through her as she saw two beams of blue light appeared near them. Misty was unable to react as the Xatu's eyes was flashing and she still felt information surge through her. Then she snapped out of it. Ray and Lance appeared amongst them as the beams of light disappeared followed by Espeon and Umbreon.

"Ray!" Ash shouted as he saw Ray appeared. Brock and Richie also turned their attention towards Ray who didn't have time to acknowledge their presence. He looked at Misty and Lance, trying to convey his plan of actions in the few milliseconds of their glances.

"Umbreon, Night Shade Full Blast! Espeon, brace yourself. We'll need you soon!" Both pokemons nodded and Umbreon started to build a huge black ball of energy in his mouth as Espeon glowed purple creating an envelope of psychic wave to protect her from Umbreon's Night Shade.

"Starmie!" Misty shouted as the star pokemon leaped out of pond nearby. Misty rode on Starmie to the surrounding parameter.

"Charizard!" Lance shouted as his orange dragon pokemon flew out of its hiding place from his tower and flew towards him. Lance and Charizard also did what Misty was doing.

"What in the world is happening?" Brock asked furiously. Richie and Ash were still in shock at how the three were acting to say anything. Ray walked a little towards them when all three of them took a few step back.

"Guys, you have to trust me on this", Ray said. Brock gave in and nodded as so did Richie. Ash still had tears in his eyes and looked pleadingly towards Ray.

"They're gonna be ok, right Ray?" Ash asked.

"Yes they will Ash". Ash then smiled and his eyes changed from sadness into hope. Ray told them to hold hands and braced themselves for whatever's coming their way as he made his way back towards Umbreon who had a huge ball of dark energy in its mouth.

"Suck up the flashing light coming from them Umbreon!" Ray ordered. Umbreon released his Night Shade attack towards Gary and Snap and made the blinding flash around them fade.

"Leer!" Lance shouted as he made Charizard put some onlookers into shock and fainted.

"Hypnosis!" Misty made other onlookers sleep with her Starmie. She blew a mystical green powder onto them. "That'll make you forget a little and make what you saw senseless to even be remembered".

"Espeon, you're up; teleport all of us out of here, now!" Espeon's eyes turned purple as what seemed like an explosion blinded all of them.

"Well done Ray" Lance said as he floated down on his Charizard to vacate the space where all the commotion from before happened. Charizard lied down on the ground while Lance rested himself beside it. "Well done to you too young one", Lance said as he patted Charizard on its head. Charizard growled happily.

* * *

Where did Espeon Teleport them to? When's 'soon' that mew mentioned and when the heck will Gary change back? Will this be answered in the next chapter? Hehe, you'll just have to stick to the fic to find out~ LoL *evil laugh that even beats Giovanni's*

Ray; And I think Bboyz is back. And twisted than ever! *runs away from the mad writer*

Bboyz; Here's a little sneak peak on chapter 10; Metamorphosis; Why am I still here?

* * *

**- Royal Chambers ¦ Palace of Pallet -**

**"There's been recent development. There's an army of pokemon and human heading towards Viridian however Mew instructed strictly to not interfere. We've just been instructed to inform everyone"**

**Xatu's eyes turned back to normal as the information had been transmitted. Blaine was resting on his bed when Xatu started to act weird. Blaine then got up and went to his window to look outside. He saw flocks of flying pokemon were fleeing from the north; from where Viridian was.**

**"This looks bad…"**

* * *

Bboyz; Ok... that's enough preview. hehe... Stay tuned people! =]


	10. Metamorphosis Why am I still here?

So the last update was five months ago. Am sorry for actually being too lazy to upload the continuation of this fic sooner even though there are a few chapters that I've typed up in advanced! hehe. Yeah, the fact is; I like to torture you people! Okay2, that was totally a joke. Am not making any more promises but I will try to upload more chapters!

As always; Disclaimers; I do not in any way whatsoever own POKEMON

-Bboyz

* * *

[Previously, our heroes were…]

"Espeon, you're up. Teleport all of us out of here, now!" Espeon's eyes turned purple as what seemed like an explosion blinded all of them.

"Well done Ray" Lance said as he floated down on his Charizard to vacate the space where all the commotion from before happened. Charizard laid down on the ground while Lance rested himself beside it. "Well done to you too young one", Lance said as he patted Charizard on its head.

[Back to the present…]

- Prince Ash's Royal Chamber | Palace of Pallet -

"Espeon!" Ray shouted as he caught the collapsed little purple feline.

_"**Don't worry about me, there's more important matters at hand", **_Espeon telepathically relayed what she thought to Ray as she closed her eyes and fainter. Umbreon came next to Espeon and licked her cheeks.

_"**That took a lot out of her",**_ Umbreon said. Ray nodded. _**"Ray, go settle those floating two first. The others are getting worried by the second. My sister here will be fine".**_

Ray placed Espeon down on the floor where Umbreon went to lay next to. He turned around to face Snap and Gary who were both floating in mid-air and again started to emit a white blinding flashing light from their bodies simultaneously. Ray looked back towards Umbreon.

"Hey Umbreon, we'll be needing another Night Shade so we won't arouse any suspicions", Ray said. Umbreon nodded and started to produce a ball of dark energy in his mouth.

"Ray, I think you need to say something to these people here…" Misty suggested pointing towards Ash, Brock and Richie who sat speechless on the ground still confused at what was happening in front of them. Their eyes were fixed straight at the two floating figures. Ray sighed. He knew these people needed to know the truth since Gary would be changing back soon and enter their life one way or another.

"Guys, I need you to trust me. There's something that I need to explain"

"I'll bet", Brock responded. Richie nodded his approval while Ash still had his eyes on his Gary.

"Will Gary be alright Ray?" Ash asked with tears rolling down his cheeks.

"Snap will be fine… Gary on the other hand…" Ray started. Ash leaped onto Ray and pushed him onto the ground with anger flashed on his face. Ray didn't respond; he just gazed into Ash's furious eyes. Misty ran quickly towards the two and pulled Ash away but Ash wouldn't let go of Ray's robes.

"Brock, lend me some help here!" Misty shouted. Brock snapped out of his trance and came to help Misty with Ash. They succeeded in separating the two. Ray slowly stood up from where he was. Ash struggled for freedom.

"You promised he'll be alright Ray! Make things right!" Ash shouted with tears pouring out of his eyes as he still tried to struggle free. Ray sighed sadly. He didn't know how to calm the little prince down.

"Ash, calm down; Ray's going to explain things. Be a little patient!" Misty shouted but she was still struggling to keep Ash calm. Brock was still speechless but he held onto Ash just as Misty instructed. Suddenly they let go of Ash as Ray embraced him.

"Ash, you said you trusted me. Please let me explain", Ray whispered into Ash's ear. Ash sobbed. He started to calm down. Ash gave Ray a quick nod and then buried his face onto his shoulders. Ray smiled a little. While still giving Ash a calming embrace, he started to explain.

"Guys, I'm sorry for all this, but since the day I came here, I was entrusted with the task of protecting Gary"

"You've done a good job of it, haven't you?" Brock said sarcastically. Misty gave him a quick slap on the head. Brock glared at her. "Well, look at what's happening to the little critter". Brock pointed towards Gary and Snap who were still floating in mid-air emitting that bright white blinding light. Suddenly the room became less bright.

"Thank you Umbreon", Ray said as he looked towards the exhausted little black pokemon. Umbreon nodded. "Truthfully, I knew all this was going to happen". Ash grabbed Ray harder. Ray gave him an even tighter hug.

"How is Snap involved in this?" Everyone turned towards Richie who broke his silence. Again, Ray tried to continue his explanation.

"Gary's not really what he seemed. He's not really an Eevee…" Brock and Richie looked shock at Ray but Ash still held him close. Ash wanted explanation and did not interfere.

"Then what ever could he be?" Brock asked. Misty sighed.

"This is getting nowhere…" Misty said as she stood up and made Brock sit quietly next to Richie. "Shut up and let him finish for crying out loud!"

"He was a human, a boy. I didn't know him personally but I was there when it all happened. When he was cursed", Ray continued. Ash started to sob quietly into Ray's shoulders. Ray patted the prince. "Someone wanted to kill him slowly so they cast a killing spell on him but a relative of his countered the spell. Something happened between the two assaults and Gary turned into an Eevee". Brock and Richie nodded although still a little taken aback by the information they were taking in.

"Do continue Ray".

"It's pretty logical that the person wanting to kill Gary would come looking for him. So we needed somewhere safe for him to be. Knowing Pallet was one of the safest kingdom in Kanto, I had my friends led him here. Then he met Ash and all of us. Recently, we… I mean, I discovered that the spells binding him to that form was weakening by his own doings…"

"So, if I understand correctly, Gary's going to turn back to being a human?" Richie asked.

"Yes", Ray answered. Suddenly, Ash's knees gave way and both himself and Ray fell to the ground.

"Ash, Gary will still be Gary. He's the same person… pokemon… being", Ray tried to calm him down. Ash nodded with tears running down his cheeks. Ray slowly wiped the tears away.

"I… I was just thinking… That… That it'd be… a little different… although I guessed as much… that he's be the same Gary I met… the same Gary I've loved…" Ash stuttered. Ray smiled and patted the little prince.

"I'm still confused at how Snap is related to all this".

"Truthfully I don't have a clear cut answer to that one. Maybe Gary's drawing some of Snap's magical powers to help him transform back. Although both probably doesn't know anything about it since it is happening to them unconsciously", Ray tried to explain omitting the part where Jirachi and Celebi came in. Richie wasn't really satisfied with the answer but had to accept it as Ray did say he didn't know the exact connection.

"So, what's going to happen now?" Brock asked.

"We can't do a thing. We'll just have to wait for the transformation to be complete".

- Royal Chambers | Palace of Pallet -

"There's been recent development. There's an army of pokemon and human heading towards Viridian however Mew instructed strictly to not interfere. We've just been instructed to inform everyone"

Xatu's eyes turned back to normal as the information had been transmitted. Blaine was resting on his bed when Xatu started to act weird. Blaine then got up and went to his window to look outside. He saw flocks of flying pokemon were fleeing from the north; from where Viridian was.

"This looks bad…"

- Palace Gardens | Palace of Pallet -

"Sir Lance… Sir Lance… It's getting late so I thought I should wake you up…" a little boy in an acolyte robe tugged Lance's cape. Lance slowly woke up from his little slumber. He opened his eyes to find the sun already setting on the horizon.

_'Those kids haven't been in contact since… It's taking quite a while…'_ he thought to himself. He then remembered the little acolyte that woke him up and patted the boy on his head.

"Thank you young one. If you hadn't woken me up, I would have probably slept all night long here…" Lance said and smiled. The little boy returned the smile and bid farewell as he headed out of the gardens. "I trust those kids… I hope things turn out for the best…"

- Prince Ash's Royal Chamber | Palace of Pallet -

Ash slowly lifted Ray's arms that were placed around him. He got up and scanned the room. Everyone was asleep; exhausted from what had happened and tired out from waiting. He saw that both Snap and Gary were still shimmering weakly. Even though Ray explained to them that Gary was turning back to human, Ash saw that he was still in his Eevee form.

Ash then walked slowly towards the two floating figures. He first looked firstly at Snap. The boy looked as though he was in a peaceful slumber. Ash smiled.

_'At least it doesn't seem that he's suffering or anything…'_ he thought to himself. Then he diverted his attention towards Gary. The little Eevee was also in deep slumber. Ash wanted so much to touch and embrace Gary. He walked towards Gary. Slowly, he held up his hand and gestured to touch Gary. Nothing was holding him back. His right hand touched the little Eevee, who then smiled in his sleep. Ash smiled and knew what he should do.

"Hey Gary… thanks for being there for me all these while. I don't know what's going to happen after you've transformed back, but you should know; I will still love you just the way you are…"

Ash then used his other hand and pulled himself towards Gary for an embrace. Ash felt himself becoming weak. His knees were starting to give way as he lost his balance. He was heading straight down towards the hard ground when suddenly, his hand was caught by another pair of hands. He looked at who caught his arm and smiled at the familiar figure.

"So it was you all along Gary…"

A translucent projection of Gary was there standing behind the little shimmering Eevee. He pulled Ash up. Ash smiled and closed his eyes. Gary pulled Ash closer towards him and they both hugged each other. The little Eevee and Snap started to shine even brighter. And suddenly, they faded. The little Eevee was no where in sight. All that was left was Snap sprawled on the floor and two boys, in a tight cuddle on Ash's bed; both wearing very happy smiles on their faces.

The sheets were pulled up to cover both of them. Both earned a little peck on the forehead.

"Sleep well young princes; for the days to come are still full of obstacles and challenges for both of you to overcome"

Then, Snap was lifted and carried away out of the room. "You did well…" Snap smiled in his sleep as the familiar voice praised him. Both Espeon and Umbreon woke up and made their way out of the room to follow their companion.

- Viridian -

"King Samuel, we're under attack!" a royal knight came running into the sages' tower and informed the king of their current situation. The mystical ball that was floating in the middle of the room disappeared as the sages opened their eyes and acknowledged the presence of the knight.

"Did you feel it King Samuel?" asked one of the sages. Samuel Oak nodded.

"Something has happened… I'm starting to get weird visions… No, memories…"

"It must have something to do with you your majesty…"

"Yes, but we have more important matters to worry about now. Elders, we've seen this coming. You can either flee or surrender to his will…"

"We'll stay with you till the end your majesty…"

"Very well… Do keep yourselves safe. We don't know what he will be doing to us once he has us captive". King Samuel walked towards the knight. "Tell the army to try to evacuate all civilians out of the kingdom. Send a messenger to Pewter to inform them of our fate. Tell the army to flee as well since this is not a battle to be won". The knight was taken aback.

"But your majesty, we are all ready to defend the kingdom to our death!" he exclaimed. Samuel looked sternly at the knight.

"Are you going to disobey a direct order commander?" he asked. The knight didn't know what to respond. "Giovanni's not a force to mess with. He's ruthless. And we are in no condition to defend ourselves. Please, just obey my orders. It's an official order commander!"

"Sir, yes sir!" The knight saluted the king and then left to inform the others.

"Your majesty, what about the Kingdom of Pallet?"

"Knowing how Pallet is, they've probably already known this and will start to take measures to defend themselves. Pallet's too important to Kanto for us to burden them with refugees. Let's just hope Pewter will be able to allocate our civilians with refuge", King Samuel sighed. The other elders nodded in agreement with the king's wise acts.

"Your majesty; it would be wise for you to try retrieving those flashes of memories you said you were starting to have…" one of the elders suggested.

"Yes, you have a point…"

"We will be by your side to aid you with this…"

"Thank you my friends. Now let's not cause a commotion and surrender to that Giovanni". King Samuel led the elders out of their towers where they saw Giovanni flying on a Charizard just outside of it.

"Well, well; it seems as though you'll not be putting up a fight… Good choice Samuel"

"I would like to request that you will mean the civilians and everyone else no harm in return for our surrender", King Samuel requested.

"Your surrender does not mean anything Samuel. You and I both know that either way, Viridian will fall into my hands anyway". Giovanni gave a signal which resulted with the pokemons terrorizing Viridian and forcing everyone out of their home.

The beast trios led three battalion to fight against the Viridian army; who were little by little losing badly against their foes. Lives were lost, pokemons and humans were injured. The wizards spells were cancelled out one by one and their powers were rendered useless. Barriers were made to withstand the arrows of the archers and hunters. The knights and crusaders were pushed back and defeated. The priests and acolytes were captured so that healing and support were not performed. All in all, Viridian was falling down hard.

King Samuel cringed as he saw what was happening to Viridian. He was ashamed that he could not have done anything at the time and gave himself in to Giovanni's plot. Giovanni followed by three other people flew towards the thrown room.

"Get him here to see this!"

The three girls who were with Giovanni shoved King Samuel and the elders into the throne room as Giovanni sat on the king's throne. One of the girls took the crown and placed in on Giovanni's head as another girl hand Giovanni a powerful majestic looking staff.

"See this Samuel, now I'm the ruler of Viridian, and soon, the whole of Kanto!"

- Somewhere unknown -

He opened his eyes. He both knew and didn't know where he was. He's been here but he didn't know where exactly here was. He scanned around the parameters and saw that everyone around were wearing masks. Soon enough he discovered that he came back to the masquerade ball he's been attending quite often.

He was suddenly snapped out of his daydream by a tap on his shoulder.

"May I have this dance?" A familiar figure; the guy he's been dancing with each time came to ask him to dance. However often this happened he didn't know but he still could not make out who this guy was. They dance the waltz to a very slow number. Both held the other close and tight. Their body did the talking and their mouth kept smiling at each other since the very beginning.

Once the number ended, he knew what was going to happen next. They stopped dancing and the guy asked him to take a quiet stroll out in the gardens. The clock chimed twelve. If this was a dream like it usually was, he would probably wake up and not know who this guy was. But that didn't happen. He was happy.

They walked hand in hand across the garden and made a stop at a fountain where the Goldeens were dancing in the moonlight. Sakura petals were blown off their trees and flew past both boys. They were still entranced at how the other seemed to look perfect in the moonlight. One of them started the conversation.

"It's been a while hasn't it…"

"Yeah, it has…"

"It's good to know that you've been happy with your life…"

"That's because you came into it and made me happy"

"I'm glad I'm of help…" Both smiled and their face moved closer to each other for a slow passionate kiss. The Goldeens sprayed their Water Gun around the couple which shimmered with the rays of the moon. They broke the kiss and looked into each others eyes.

The taller boy took off the other's mask. "Ash…"

The shorter boy did the same thing. This time, he looked deeply into the other boy's eyes. He smiled. "Gary…"

- Prince Ash's Royal Chamber | Palace of Pallet -

"Gary…"

Ash suddenly woke up from his dream but he could not move himself. Then he noticed a pair of arms around him under the covers. He felt the touch of those arms. He ran his own hands up those arms that held him close. He smiled. He then looked upon the face that belonged to the guy who was holding him.

"Gary…" Ash gave Gary a peck on the forehead. "So it was you all these while…" Gary smiled and stirred a little in his sleep. Ash slowly lifted Gary's arms to let himself free. He then looked around and saw that Brock was leaning on Richie's back while Misty was rested comfortably on a sofa. All of them were deeply lost in their own dream world.

As usual, Ray was missing. Ash remembered how Ray had brought them all here. He too noticed that Espeon and Umbreon along with Snap were not in the room. Ash hoped so much that they were all alright and in his heart knew that if it were up to Ray; things will probably be alright. He smiled to himself that all those things has ended.

Ash moved to the side of his bed to get out of it. Then suddenly his arm was caught by something. He looked down at his arm and saw someone was holding onto it. His eyes wandered up the arm and saw that Gary was looking straight at him.

"Ash… stay with me…" Then Gary pulled Ash into bed and hugged him tight. Ash blushed furiously. They both looked into each other's eyes. "Well… I don't usually get this far into the dream… It usually ends when we take a stroll or something…"

"Gary… it's not a dream…"

"It isn't?" Ash shook his head. Gary then looked at himself. He saw he had hands… He had five fingers. He ran his hands through his hair. He felt his face. He then felt his back.

"No tail!" Gary shouted in excitement. "I'm back to normal!" Ash smiled seeing Gary happy like that. Then he saw Gary turn bright red.

"What's wrong Gary?"

"I'm… I'm… I'm NAKED!" he shouted which woke Misty, Brock and Richie up. Gary pulled the sheets and covered himself up. Misty, Brock and Richie came towards the bed to take a good look at Gary.

"So this is Gary eh?" Brock asked. Gary turned an even deeper shade of red as everyone was looking at him.

"Stop staring guys!" Ash said as he waved his arms around to push everyone away from the bed. Then everyone realized what was going on and broke into a fit of laughter.

"Heh… It's good that they've actually started out well… I guess we should go meet Gary soon eh Umbreon, Espeon?" Ray asked. Both pokemon nodded. Ray then leaped off the balcony he was perched on where we was watching his friends and disappeared into the night's sky. Both Espeon and Umbreon too leaped away from the balcony and made their exits.

- Headquarters | Tree of Beginnings -

Ray walked into the room where he saw Lorelie, Bruno, Agatha and Lance were all eyeing one particular screen in total focus. He joined in and saw that they were monitoring Giovanni's moves in Viridian.

"So you're done over there?" Lance said. Ray nodded. Both Espeon and Umbreon walked into their posts in the middle of the room.

"Well, Viridian's been completely wiped. Giovanni's in total control of it and has the king, elders and part of the army hostage. Most civilians made an escape and from our monitoring, they've headed straight to Pewter", Lorelie reported to Ray. Ray nodded.

"It's a little weird that none came this way", Bruno raised his suspicions.

"Yeah, you have a point…" All the elites and Ray pondered on this fact and they all went back to their respective positions. Ray now has an extra screen to monitor Gary. Then he thought of something.

"Guys, I have something to take care of…" Ray said as he exited the room. Ray went into a green bubble that was one of the means of transport in the tree. He only had one thing racing through his mind and that guided him to an elusive secret part of the tree.

- Mew's Hideout | Tree of Beginnings -

"Mew, you know why I'm here don't you?" Ray asked. Mew nodded.

_"**It's rare that you actually came for me", **_the pink feline pokemon relayed telepathically. Ray smiled. Mew then glowed blue and with it a screen appeared out of the wall facing them both. Mew stopped glowing and floated away.

"Hey, where are you going?"

_"**You deserve some privacy. Hehe…"**_ with that, the feline pokemon flew out of the room. The screen started to portray an image and soon enough, Celebi appeared on the screen.

"Celebi… I think you know why I'm here…"

_"**That depends Ray…" **_

"Well, I have a feeling that you know. Why am I still here? I think I've actually done my part. Gary's safely turned back into his human self… He's in Pallet; the safest place he could be in the land of Kanto"

_"**Ray… Do you actually think that would have ended your task here?"**_

"Well… basically, yeah…"

_"**Ray… I know you better than that. You're just curious aren't you? Curious on the reasons you are still here and not called back"**._ Ray nodded. _**"Well, I wouldn't say it's your fault or anything but you've actually gotten yourself more tied up in this place's affairs. I'll assign you new task for now since you're already involved. It would be too weird for you to just up and disappear like that although I do have the powers to do that…"**_

"Thank you Celebi"

_"**Now, please aid them in protecting their peace for now. And do help Gary out to adapt to his new life"**_ Ray nodded. He turned around. _**"And Ray… Do try to do something about 'that' please"**_

"I'm already involved this much. It's not like I'm not going to get hurt anyway…" Ray left the room. Celebi sighed.

- Prince Ash's Royal Chamber | Palace of Pallet -

Ash was going through his stuff when he heard the door open. He looked up and smile.

"Ray!" Ray smiled as he walked into the room. He looked left and right as if he was searching for something. "He's in there, having a bath". Ray nodded. He left a few clothes on Ash's bed. They were clothes for Gary since he knew Ash was shorter and would probably not have anything that would fit the guy. Ash smiled in relief. Ray barged into the bathroom unannounced.

"Hey!" came a shout from inside the bathtub.

"Hey big guy, how does it feel to get back into your own body?"

"Ray! I've been wondering where you were… Hey, do they know everything?"

"No… I've only told them how you turned into an Eevee. Well, I just gave a shortened version of it anyway. Not much details". Ray saw that Gary was a little upset remembering the event where most his family was murdered. "Hey, cheer up Gary. We can't change the past…"

Gary gave a weak smile. Ray patted Gary on the head. Gary shook it off. "Hey, I'm not an Eevee anymore you know!" Ray laughed. Gary smiled even wider. "Thank you for not telling them everything. I don't want them to know… I want to start anew…" Ray smiled.

"Speaking of Eevees… I have a present for you". Eevee cam running up Ray's back and onto Ray's shoulder.

"Hey!"

"Well, I think you and Ash should take care of her from now on out". Eevee gave a happy yelp.

"Thanks Ray"

"Well, go get yourself ready for bed. You don't have any problem sleeping with Ash for tonight do you?" Gary blushed furiously. "I thought so. Well, I'll try to get things done for you tomorrow. You'll need to fit in with the crowd starting tomorrow since you don't want the royal treatment". Gary nodded as Ray left the bathroom. Ash peeked in.

"So how's your bath?"

"Very refreshing, thank you your majesty…"

"Cut that crap Gary! Just call me Ash…" Gary smiled. He did that on purpose just to see how Ash would have reacted. Ash smiled back. "You don't mind sleeping with me tonight do you? I don't think they can get anything ready on this short of a notice and hey, I wouldn't really mind it that much as we sleep together every night anyway before".

"Thanks Ash. That's so kind of you…"

"This is awkward, isn't it?"

"A little…" They both chuckled. Ash got up and made his way out of the bathroom. "Hey Ash, thank you; thank you for saying that you'd love me just the way I am, as an Eevee or otherwise". Ash paused at the bathroom door. He didn't say anything. He just looked down towards his feet and smiled as he left the bathroom.

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[Author's Note]

So Gary's turned back to normal; well, human. Did you guys think that'd be the end of the fic? No; no. We're just getting started. hehe. Or we're progressing. I have no idea when it'll end although I've already thought of the ending; just don't know how long it'll take to get to it.

So what kind of things can you expect from the next chapter? It'll be called; **Departures. **Yeah, not that good at naming chapters apparently.

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[Preview of Chapter 11]

**"My people, as the sun rises today, it rise upon the birth of a new King; the King of Darkness that's going to rule all of Kanto and make this continent ours! Let us rise and bring a new world order to everyone!" Roars and applause were heard from the spectators. Three shadowed figures were clapping slowly behind Giovanni.**

**"You three know what you need to plan right?" Giovanni said. The three nodded and left. "Everyone; let us all better ourselves as we will be covering more land soon!" **

Yeah; sounds interesting? I hope so. LOL. Or I'll need to conjure up new things! Stay tuned.


	11. Departures

So... It's been more than a year since the last update. No lame excuses. I'm just back to continue. Hopefully a little regularly than the long hiatus :) And I'm sorry in advanced if my style of writing has declined from how it formerly was and how my imagination may have lessen! Lol. Time creeps up on yoou when you least expect it. I'm ageing!

As always. I do not own pokemon :D

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Chapter 10

[Previously we left Ash and Gary…]

"Thanks Ash. That's so kind of you…"

"This is awkward, isn't it?"

"A little…" They both chuckled. Ash got up and made his way out of the bathroom. "Hey Ash, thank you; thank you for saying that you'd love me just the way I am, as an Eevee or otherwise". Ash paused at the bathroom door. He didn't say anything. He just looked down towards his feet and smiled as he left the bathroom.

[And so night turned into day…]

- Prince Ash's Royal Chamber | Palace of Pallet -

Ash tossed and turned in his sleep. Then slowly his eyelids opened to see that the sun was already up on the horizon. He yawned and stretched. Eevee was sleeping soundly at the end of his bed. Gary said that Ray gave them both his Eevee to take care of. How thoughtful. Speaking of Gary, he saw that the said boy was still fast asleep on the sofa. Then he saw someone else was also in the room.

"Good Morning my little prince" Ash smiled. It was quite normal for the guy to come unannounced and unexpectedly. The guy made his way towards Ash and patted the sleeping Eevee's head. He sat at the end of the bed.

"You're up early Ray". Ray smiled back.

"Well, we've got to get a lot of things settled before Gary wakes up…"

"We?"

"Yeah, Misty's pitching in as well as Brock. Richie needed to stay in to look after Snap. He's still drained from yesterday's event however he's perfectly fine; you don't have anything to worry about", Ray explained. Ash gave a sigh of relief.

"That's good to hear".

"It is, isn't it? Anyway, I have more news to report to you Ash. Well, just to get you aware of what's happening. I'll be introducing Gary to her majesty after breakfast and then we'll let him chose what he wants to train as. And speaking of training, 'Sir' Lance has given me the task of training you so we'll start sometime after lunch if that's ok with you?" Ash nodded in agreement. "For now since there's not much room in the palace, Gary will take my place in our room. It'll help him with getting to know the other guys as well and well, it'll let them keep and eye on him too if he ever needs help".

"What about you Ray?"

"You don't have to worry about me. 'Sir' Lance has taken care of it since I'll be training under him as well".

"Oh, I heard about that before from Misty". Ash said and nodded. Ray smiled. He got up and made his way towards the door.

"Wake that sleepy head up, will you? Everyone's more or less awake already and will be waiting for you both for breakfast", Ray said as he left the room. Eevee yawned and woke up after Ray left. She wagged her tail and smiled at Ash.

"Hey Eevee, you're up early! Hey, do me a favour and wake Gary up for me please", Ash told Eevee. Eevee nodded and smiled as it leaped away towards the sofa and jumped onto Gary. Ash chuckled and got up to take his shower. Eevee pounced Gary and licked his face. Gary stirred in his sleep but still didn't make a move to wake up.

Annoyed, Eevee used Tail Whip on Gary's nose which more or less made him sneeze himself awake. Gary sat up and rubbed his nose and saw Eevee sat in his lap. Gary smiled and patted Eevee on her head.

"Thanks little guy", Gary said and receive a yelp of disapproval from Eevee. Gary blinked. He thought hard and then it came back to him. "Oh, I'm sorry! Thanks little princess". Eevee finally smiled and leaped onto Gary and gave him another lick on the face. Gary lifted Eevee up and smiled himself.

It felt good to be able to do things like that again; holding things, lifting things up, walking on only two legs and so on. He felt as if he was reborn; he felt as if he was given a new life, new people to get to know, new challenges to face, new faces to meet, new people to love. He got up and went to the balcony to take in the morning freshness and watch as the sun rises from the horizon.

"Hey sleepy head, go get ready for the day. They've got some stuff already planned for you", Ash said as he got out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist. He threw another towel towards Gary who caught it. "Feels like playing catch again, doesn't it?" Ash was referring to how they used to play catch when Gary was still an Eevee. Gary smiled in agreement. He placed Eevee down and made his way towards the bathroom.

- Throne Room ¦ Palace of Pallet -

Lance and Ray were chatting as they waited for Gary to come. Queen Delia was seen sitting on her throne reading a few royal parchments that needed her approval. A few maids and workmen were seen around her aiding her with her morning work. Soon enough, Gary made an entrance with Ash.

"Good morning Ash!" Queen Delia said as she handed all the papers she was observing to the workmen that was beside her. They bowed and made their way out of the room. Ash smiled at his mother and made his way towards her. He gave her a peck on the cheek and so did she. Ash then sat on his throne next to hers to see Gary's introduction.

Gary was a nervous wreck. He was shaking around his knees. Ray put his hands on Gary's shoulders to calm him down. Gary was still nervous. Lance made his way first towards both the queen and her prince and bowed.

"You're nervous?"

"Yeah… I've never actually faced other royalties as someone of normal decent. And well, doing all this also brings a few memories back…" Gary sighed while his knees were still shaking like mad.

"Hey, don't you worry; everything will be fine. Queen Delia's very nice, maybe even as nice as how your mum was…" Gary smiled. "And you were never of normal decent, were you" Ray was trying his best to calm him down. He pulled himself together and nodded to the acolyte. Ray nodded back.

Ray and Gary made their way towards the queen and her prince and bowed both on different sides of Lance who was still on one knee. Eevee was a little restless on Ash's lap so she leaped out and ran circles around the three. Queen Delia laughed.

"You may all rise people. You didn't have to get on one knee in the first place"

"But of course your majesty; we're here on official matters unlike most other times", Lance explained. Queen Delia raised an eyebrow. Ray nodded in agreement while Gary was facing the floor still awkward of the whole situation. Lance gestured for Ray to explain.

"Your majesty; I present to you a distant relative of mine; Gary". Gary looked towards both the royalties that sat on their throne and bowed again. As he got up, he saw that Ash was smiling sweetly towards him and he could not resist but to smile back. Unknowing to both of them, Queen Delia was watching making her smile as well.

"So what is your business here?"

"Well… Gary here has just arrived and we would be very grateful if you would let him stay here and train with the rest of the people of Pallet", Lance continued. Queen Delia nodded.

"Very well; proceed. You said he was a distant relative of yours Ray?" Ray nodded. Queen Delia looked a little uneasy. "Somehow I feel something a little off with that. Young Gary, are you sure you are not of any royal decent?" Gary stuttered. Lance looked a little shocked.

"He is an orphan your majesty". Ray butted in trying not to lie about Gary's royal status as it would raise suspicions and would surely complicate things to have to explain everything to the queen. Gary sighed sadly and nodded at the sad fact. Now Ash himself looked a little uneasy at how things are going.

"Very well then… I will have the maids sort things out for his accommodations. Would it be troubling to ask of you to sort out the rest young Ray?" Ray shook his head.

"Not at all your majesty; in fact, Sir Lance and I have already sorted everything out beforehand. We just needed your royal approval of his stay here".

"Splendid. I have nothing against it at all. Please have a pleasant stay here young Gary. And do make friends with as many people as possible. Everyone is very friendly here in Pallet. I hope everything will suit to your needs and that you can soon call this palace home".

"Thank you very much your majesty. I am very honoured and am at debt for your kindness. Nonetheless I am very grateful for the gift of peace you are offering".

"Come now, don't make too much of a fuss about it", Queen Delia said. "You all may do as you please now. I need to go see to a few matters before lunchtime". Queen Delia stood up as Lance, Ray and Gary was again on one knee in respect. Queen Delia made her way out of the throne room with a few maids. Lance and Ray went to the door and realised that Gary wasn't walking out with them. They turned around to see Ash and Gary was standing in front of each other; both silent and looking at each other.

"Would it be ok if I left them to you?"

"Sure; you should go back to headquarters and see if anything is up". Lance made his leave as Ray stood at the door eying both boys who seemed to be very deep in their staring contest. Ray took no notice of it and left what was unsaid to be between the two and did not barge in. He just stood there in wait.

- Viridian Castle ¦ Kingdom of Viridian -

"Master, as of yesterday, all of Viridian has been siege and is fully under your control". One of the beast trios reported. Giovanni, sat on the throne of Viridian, smirked at the idea of him having full command of the whole kingdom. Three shadowed figures grinned as they dispersed from where they were plotting behind Giovanni.

"Good news as always. Now, we have to build our army up and train them for we are not only going to stop here…" A few evil sages that were in the room nodded proudly in agreement to Giovanni's plans of action. They then conjured up mystic balls to monitor the kingdom.

"As you command; my liege".

Giovanni got up and went to the balcony of the castle. He looked down at the armies of pokemon and humans that was there to do his biddings. He smirked again. He raised his staff which gained him silence from everyone below.

"My people, as the sun rises today, it rise upon the birth of a new King; the King of Darkness that's going to rule all of Kanto and make this continent ours! Let us rise and bring a new world order to everyone!" Roars and applause were heard from the spectators. Three shadowed figures were clapping slowly behind Giovanni.

"You three know what you need to plan right?" Giovanni said. The three nodded and left. "Everyone; let us all better ourselves as we will be covering more land soon!"

Pokemons flew and moved to their designated training grounds to start battling each other to get stronger. Magicians, Wizards and Sages moved out into the Viridian forest for training. Swordsmen, Knights and Crusaders started duels. Acolytes, Priests and Monks meditated to earn a better state of mind. Archers and Hunters started training themselves. Merchants, Blacksmiths and Alchemist sharpened their skills. Thieves, Assassins and Rogues went their ways to improve their dirty tricks.

All in all, everyone was working harder to aid their king to obtain rule over the continent of Kanto. Giovanni was feeling at his best. He smiled and returned back to 'his' throne.

- Headquarters ¦ Tree of Beginnings -

"Any new progresses since Ray and I left?" Lance asked as he made his way into the room.

"Nothing on the eastern part of Kanto or the south" Agatha reported.

"No unusual activities in the north either", Bruno added.

"Well, the only thing in the west is probably just a few advances within Viridian. There have been many activities there although none were specific so we truly have no idea of what they are planning. As far as what I could guess, their reforming their armies and training them around the Viridian vicinities", Lorelie reported.

"Well, that's neither good nor bad news I guess. Keep everyone updated with what's happening there. And keep monitoring. They must be planning more than just the domination of Viridian", Lance responded. Lorelie nodded as Bruno and Agatha returned to what they were doing.

Espeon and Umbreon glowed as Lorelie and her Xatu came close to them. Lorelie relayed what she had reported to Lance to all the other nobles through the two Eevee evolutions.

- Swordsman Training Grounds ¦ Palace of Pallet -

"Again; explain to me what made you chose to be a swordsman?" Ray asked Gary as they walked into the training ground. Gary smiled.

"Well, my dad was quite a Knight back in his days. I thought, well… It might be in my blood or something and I guess it fells like I'm honouring his memories". Ray nodded.

"You know… you can honour both parents' memories by… Oh, I'll let you discover that on your own I guess…" Ray stopped talking and carried on walking as Gary looked suspiciously at him. They were then joined by Brock.

"Hey guys, what brings you here? Are you taking him on a tour of the palace Ray?"

"Not at all; no. He actually decided to become a swordsman". Ray explained. Gary nodded. Brock beamed.

"Welcome to the club dude! You're in luck! Lt Surge, the uber-awesome Knight of Vermillion just joined as the new commanding officer. You're well lucky to start training under his guidance!" Gary nodded as he recalled how his dad may have mentioned that name before. Ray left Gary with Brock as he made his way towards the office.

"Sir, Lt Surge; May I have a word?" Ray asked as he knocked on the door and entered the office. Lt Surge was discussing a few papers over with some other knights and crusaders. Lt Surge nodded which signalled for the others to disperse. Ray entered and rubbed shoulders with the ones leaving the office.

"What brings you here Ray?"

"I was bringing someone in for training. He decided to become a swordsman. I hope you'll take good care of him and please, it's very unprofessional of me to ask you of this but will you give him some special treatment; I mean in terms of training him harder than the rest. I have a bad feeling that he will be depending on it in the very near future…"

"Very well, who is this young man then?"

"Gary Oak"

"Oak? As in Viridian's royal…" Ray shushed Lt Surge before he could finish his sentence.

"You know how things are back in Viridian don't you. It would be best not to reveal his identity to anyone so to keep him safe and also Pallet safe. And truthfully, he himself requested to keep his identity secretive". Lt Surge nodded and promised to keep it down low.

Ray went to the door and gestured for Gary to enter. Brock was going to go but Ray motioned for him to join them as well. Gary and Brock entered the office and stood in front of Lt Surge.

"Well young man, this acolyte here mentioned that you wanted to become one of my soldiers; am I correct in saying so?" Lt Surge asked. Gary nodded.

"Sir, yes sir"

"Very well… As any other swordsman to be, you have to go through a test of endurance first before we can officially let you join. I see that you've already made a swordsman friend here young man". Brock bowed.

"It is an honour to be in you presence Sir!"

"Cut the crap kid. You'll see more of me soon enough. And you'll be wishing otherwise by that time. May I have your names cadets?"

"Sir, Brock sir!"

"I'm Gary sir!"

"Gary eh… You seem a little familiar. Anyone you know that was in the Order of the White Lotus?" Lt Surge asked. Gary cringed. He knew there was something familiar about Lt Surge's name before. His dad was part of the same order as was Lt Surge. He didn't know how to respond. Unknowing to both Brock and Gary, Ray was behind them and gave a slight glare at Lt Surge who got the signal.

"Never mind about that for the moment. Brock, may I ask you to take young Gary here to the assessment arena for his endurance test? I hope you'll give him a few heads up as well on the way there".

"Sir, not a problem sir. Would it be possible for me to be an audience sir? I would like to see how you handle the endurance test if it differs from how it was carried out before"

"Absolutely; and oh boy, it will be totally different alright". Gary gulped. Ray smiled and gave the guy a pat on his shoulder as he made his leave.

- Acolyte quarters ¦ Palace of Pallet -

"Ray! What took you so long! I thought you said you wanted to start training me after lunch!" Ash shouted impatiently through the room as he saw Ray entered. Ray sighed.

"Keep it down will you… Act a little more like an acolyte!" Ray laughed as he rubbed Ash's hair out of proportion. Ash stuck his tongue out and moulded his hair back into shape.

"So what kind of training will we do today?"

"Your healing technique is not that good is it?"

"Who are you to say something like that?!"

"I'm your new tutor you little brat. What I say goes!" Ash sighed. Ray laughed. They both made their way out of the room together towards the Palace Gardens. Ray took Ash around the garden and sat themselves near a patch of flowers. All the flowers looked beautiful as it were kept very well by the gardeners and their Vileplumes.

Ray took out a sack from his pocket and poured a little amount of green powder onto his hand. He then blew the powder towards the patch of flowers. Half of the flowers then started to turn dark and a little lifeless.

"What the heck did you do that for?"

"I know; it's uncalled for. But it's the only way we can test out your healing powers on non-pokemons and non-humans I guess…" Ray walked up to one of the flowers and held its stalk in his hands. He closed his eyes and glowed a little. Suddenly, a pillar of green light covered the flower that was in his hands. "Heal!"

The flower returned to normal. In fact, it was a little better than normal as it sparkled in the sun better than the rest in the patch. Ash looked in amazement. He wished he would be able to do the same thing as his new tutor just did. Ray smiled and smelled the flower.

"A red rose, just as beautiful as a Roselia at its best". Ash nodded.

"So now Ash, it's your turn. You know how to do it… I just want to see you improve, that's all… No pressure though, if you don't succeed, you'll get a beating from yours truly", Ray said sarcastically. Ash sweat dropped and sighed. He went up to another flower, one that was next to the one Ray just healed and held it in his hands just as Ray did.

"Heal!" a beam of green light surrounded the flower that he held. The flower stood up a little flaccid than it was before but it could not match how majestic the one Ray healed stood next to it. Ash looked down and sighed.

"Well now Ash… what's the matter? It seems as though you've gotten used to healing, although there's so much space for improvement", Ray said as he patted Ash on the shoulder. Ash looked up to his tutor.

"I saw what you did. It's pretty much the same. The technique's the exact same one. What else cam I do to make it better?" Ash asked in frustration. Ray smiled. He held up one finger and placed it onto Ash's forehead. Ash grabbed the finger and moved it aside. "It's no times for jokes Ray! I'm serious!"

"It's all in the state of mind, also in the pureness of the heart as well as how well your intentions are…" Ray explained as his hand moved to point at Ash's heart and placed his hand there. Ash was startled. He didn't know that being an acolyte needed that much work. "Those three things can change the magnitude of the power you use and the power you try to channel". Ash nodded.

"Now… Clear your mind. Try not to think of your bed mate too much", Ray teased. Ash blushed a furious shade of red. Ray laughed but then got back to business. "Concentrate; clear your mind and focus on what you will be doing". Ash did as he was instructed. He held onto the same flower and concentrated hard on healing it.

"Now, wish in your heart that you mean well by healing the flower. Wish for it to blossom in the sunlight. Wish for the betterment of its health. Channel your good intentions and heal it", Ray instructed. Ash's mind was focused on healing the flower while in his heart he knew his intentions were good. He then closed his eyes.

"Heal!" The flower stalk straightened a little more than it already had before while its petals showed more colours. Ash opened his eyes and saw the improvement he had made. He compared it to the one that Ray had healed but still saw quite a difference in the two. He sighed.

"Hey, well done. You've shown quite an improvement. Not that I didn't expect it from someone I'm tutoring", Ray boasted. Ash gave Ray a whack on the back which made both of them stumble to the ground.

"But Ray, how can I get up to your level of healing? I wish to heal as much as I could", Ash asked.

"Well Ash, you're doing well and you're well on your way to do just that. It just needs practice. I'm going to leave you to practice that for the rest of the week. I'll see how much you've improve in a week's time ok? Maybe after that you'd be able to do this". Ray stood up, closed his eyes and put his hands together in front of his chest. Wind started to blow around them and blew Ray's hairs a little out of place. A pillar of white light shone around Ray.

"Heal!" The pillar of white light turned green and suddenly it expanded from where Ray was and engulfed the patch of flowers that he had rendered weak a while ago. All the flowers returned to normal. Ray had just demonstrated that healing isn't only limited to just one target. Ash was in awe. Ray then returned to normal as the pillar of light disappeared.

"Well… as they all say; practise makes perfect, although I have doubts on how that saying goes really… Practise makes things better; it doesn't necessarily make things perfect!" Ray made a peace sign with his fingers as he winked towards Ash.

- Prince Ash's Royal Chamber ¦ Palace of Pallet -

"How are things with Swordsmanship?" Ash asked as he wiped a wet cloth on some wound Gary had acquired during training. Gary winced as the cloth made contact with his wound.

"Pretty well I supposed. The commander said that I could try harder but I think sometimes he drives me harder than the other trainees".

"Don't be such a baby!" Ash teased as he played with the wet cloth and wiped Gary's nose. Gary smiled. Eevee jumped out of nowhere and bit on the wet cloth while running away with it. Both boys laughed at how playful the Eevee has become this past week.

"How's your training going?" Gary asked. Ash shrugged.

"Well, Ray was supposed to see how well I've practised a few days ago. But I haven't seen him around for quite some time now…" Ash responded.

"I bet you've done really well…"

"Thanks… Hey! I've got an idea. Why don't I try to heal you?" Ash said excitedly. Gary looked a little uneasy at the idea. He wasn't really confident on how Ash's progressing. From storied Ash has told him, he hasn't healed pokemons and humans just yet; only flowers, plants and tree saplings.

Gary saw Ash's sad face when he didn't respond with a 'yes' straight away. Ash turned to face away from Gary. Gary felt something behind him and looked to see that Eevee had given him a Headbutt and was now staring at him with an angry expression. Gary knew what both of them wanted him to do. He put both his hands on Ash's shoulders and turned the prince around.

"Like I said; I bet you've done well. And hey, that's quite a good idea. Let's trying healing these wounds then…" Gary said as he touched Ash's nose with his finger. Ash brightened up, smile and hopped off his bed. Gary followed and stood in front of Ash.

Ash closed his eyes and concentrated. He held his hand out and made his palms face Gary's direction. His palms started to glow green. Slowly, Gary noticed that a pillar of green light was starting to form around him. He was amazed. It felt nostalgic. He remembered how his mum and sister used to use this move on him when he wounded himself doing countless things. He smiled.

"Heal!" Ash's eyes shot open and the pillar of light around Gary became more apparent as he felt a rush of energy run through him. Something soothing and loving was wrapping him up while he felt his wounds less painful each second. As the feeling disappeared, Gary opened his eyes and looked at his wounds. They were still there; not completely healed but were much better than it was before. Then he felt a thud on the floor.

"Ash!" Gary shouted as he picked the prince up off the floor and placed him of his lap. He used his hand to wipe away the strands of hair that was covering the little prince's forehead. Ash slowly opened his eyes and smiled.

"Hey, I did it, didn't I?"

"Yeah, you did great Ashy-boy".

"But I never knew that healing humans would take quite a lot out of me…" Ash explained. Gary smiled. He placed a light kiss on Ash's forehead. Ash smiled. "What did I do to get a kiss from you?"

"Nothing really… You just need to be you; that's just the way I like you". Gary then leaned down for a hug.

- Palace Gardens ¦ Palace of Pallet -

The breeze caught on Snap's cape and blew it towards the north. Snap was standing facing away from the Cherry Blossom tree that was in the middle of the secret hideaway that could be found if you looked hard enough through the gardens. Snap then grabbed onto the sakura petals that blew from behind him.

"I'll be away for quite a while. The master said that he'd take me away for intensive training as he said he saw some potential in me". Snap said.

"You have so much potential Snap"

"So you're not going to say goodbye to me?"

"No" Snap gulped. He wished his question was answered differently. Snap suddenly felt something brush his right leg. He looked down and saw a yellow and green pokemon rubbed against him. He knelt down and patted the pokemon on its head.

"Take Leafeon with you. It'll be of some help as you both are very in tune with nature. Bring it back safe and sound. You come back safe and sound too. I'll…" Snap was about to turn around towards the tree when he suddenly heard leaves rustling. He smiled and picked Leafeon up to hug it.

"I'll miss you too Ray".

- Gary's shared room ¦ Palace of Pallet -

"So I heard you're leaving too"

"And I heard it's been two weeks since you showed yourself around here"

"That's not the point…"

"Yeah… Somehow I happen to be leaving at the same time as Snap is".

"Well, I know you'll do well. When will you guys be breaking the news to Ash?"

"I don't really know. I wish we didn't have to… How did you guys…"

"Don't ask". Richie paused and smiled. He then patted Flareon on the head as it made it way towards the door.

"She'll be missing you…"

"She'll be fine with you. I know she's in good hands". Flareon rubbed her mane against Ray's leg. Ray bent down to give it a hug. "Take good care of that guy for me ok?"

"**I sure will Ray"** Flareon responded. Ray nodded and smiled at Flareon as it made it way back to Richie who was still busily packing his bag.

"Till we meet again" Richie looked up towards the door and saw that Ray's already gone.

"Sheesh, that guy's not good with goodbyes is he?" Flareon yelped. Richie then continued packing his stuff with a smile, knowing that he's going away for his own good and that he'd be able to be a better personal guard of the prince. He only had doubts on how well it'll go when he had to break the news. He sighed.

[Later…]

"Did they mention when you guys will be back?" Misty asked. Both Snap and Richie shook their head. "Well, I guess it's when you've completed your training…" She sighed. Both guys haven't breathed a word about it towards Ash and they're expected to leave tomorrow.

"This is going to be hard…" Brock added. Snap and Richie both nodded. Both boys had already finished packing their bags and had it placed at the foot of their beds.

"I wished we had more time to have gotten to know each other…" Gary said.

"Don't worry Gary. From the two weeks we've been together, we know you're a great guy", Richie responded. Snap nodded.

"Even though that's beside the point, we know Ash is in capable hands while we're away". Gary's face turned a little red. Brock put his arm around Gary's shoulders.

"Yeah, leave him to us". Snap and Richie smiled.

"I know you'll be around so I'm not at all worried", Richie said towards Misty. Brock; in utter shock, fell down to the ground. Gary was dragged towards the ground with him. Misty, Richie and Snap couldn't help but laugh. Then suddenly they saw an Eevee making its way into the room. Richie and Snap quickly hid their bags as Ash entered the room.

"Guys! It's about time for dinner already. Let's go!"

- Palace Gates ¦ Palace of Pallet -

"WHAT! WHY?" Ash asked in disbelieve as both Richie and Snap broke the news to him. Gary was by his side calming him down but it did no good. Ash was stomping his feet and was causing a tantrum. Queen Delia also tried to calm her prince down but to no avail, the boy still refused to accept the facts.

"Ash…" Gary started.

"NO! I DON'T WANT THEM TO GO AWAY!" Ash shouted. At this point, Gary had to hold him back as he was trying to run towards their friends who were leaving.

"We're sorry Ash…" Those were the only words that Snap could master at the time. He looked around and saw the wind blew part of a white robe from behind one of the trees at the palace entrance. He smiled. Richie saw it too.

"Don't worry Ash; we'll be back as soon as we finish out training". Richie said. Ash sobbed and gave up resisting. He fell into Gary's embrace. Queen Delia smiled.

"Good luck to all of you", Queen Delia said addressing Snap, Richie and both their tutors; the Chief Wizard and Chief Hunter. All of them bowed. Queen Delia gave a nod in response. All four of them then turned away and walked towards the unknown, ready to train hard to improve themselves.

"Stay safe and come back", Ash murmured into Gary chest. Gary smiled and held the prince even tighter. Queen Delia made her way back towards the palace with a few maids at her side, leaving the boys to see their friends on their way.

"You think he'll be fine?" Queen Delia asked as she walked past someone that was standing against one of the trees at the entrance.

"I'm sure he will. I'll keep him busy with more training if it bothers him too much…" Queen Delia nodded as the guy bowed towards her. She continued on her way back towards the palace.

* * *

Sorry but I don 't have any previews for the next chapter as I kindda lost my storyboard (this chapter was crafted recently too after the storyboard and plot went missing) so you'll have to bear with me (if you still want to follow the story).

Am currently typing up the next episode. I hope to publish it in a week or two :) Emphasize the word HOPE there :)

And where have my muses gone?! -_-


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